Twilight's Song
by LadyDragonfly23
Summary: Who would have ever thought one girl could change the world? Not Kigali of Twilight, legendary ex-goddess of water and ice. Not until she became that girl, that is. Now it’s up to Kigali and her faithful wolf spirit, Zoe, to save earth… at any cost.
1. We will always be best friends

Disclaimer: Don't sue me! I don't own Shaman king, I just pretend I do. But don't tell that to the impossible-dreams police.

Ok, this is my very first fic, so keep that in mind before you flame me.

The beginning of the story IS when Kigali is just a small girl, but that's because no one will get the story if I don't start from the beginning. But she WILL grow! Yay!

And some characters might be just a little bit OC... sorry about that! Thanks for reading!

Lady Dragonfly

TWILIGHT'S SONG

"We will always be best friends... won't we Anna...?" asked the small girl to her only family sitting in front of her.

"Shh... they'll find us..." she hesitated "and of course we will always be best friends..." They were quiet for a few minutes, listening to the footsteps of the very people that were trying to find them, but Kigali couldn't allow them to take Anna away... she had been suspecting that Anna's parents would try to give her away after they found out her little "secret", after all, not many people had the ability to see ghosts and spirits... yet here they were, two little girls about the age of seven, both with the rare ability that had destroyed their lives. Kigali was not worried about her own parents; for they had already abandoned her years ago when they learned that she could not only see ghosts, but also shapeshift into every animal she touched. Anna wasn't much better off either; she had the power to read minds. A power she absolutely hated.

They had both ended up in Shallow Brook College, on the outsides of London, England. Kigali Belaqua and Anna Kyouyama. Kigali didn't know where she came from, since she had lived in the college for the most part. She had long brown hair with white strikes in the sides and sapphire blue eyes. Anna didn't know where she was from, since she had been brought with no information, but she had shoulder length blond hair and the deepest black eyes.

Kigali looked up at Anna, the fear in her eyes was clear as well, they heard footsteps coming closer and closer. If Anna was found, she would be sent to Japan to live with some family that had offered to take care of her. A relocation. The steps were right outside the janitor's closet by now. The door burst open and both girls spilled out along with various cleaning products. Anna reacted quickly, she grabbed for Kigali and tried to run for it, but she slipped in some "Mr. Clean" floor polish product. They went down hard. The janitor, who had also fallen back from surprise at having two small girls jump out of his closet instead of the usual mop and broom, also recovered. He reached out and grabbed them both by the collars of their shirts.

"Now what are you two doing here?" they were silent, "I better take you to the headmaster, he's been looking for you two all over campus!"

KIGALI

Caught... caught after all we went through. My brain had run out of evasive ideas, in fact, I was feeling sick inside. They had caught Anna. They had taken Anna to the headmaster and locked me in my room so I would stay out of trouble. I banged on the door again and again, but they were either ignoring me or not anywhere nearby. One hour.

Two hours.

I looked through my belongings hurriedly. If it would come to leaving, there was only one thing I needed. I brought out of my bedside drawer a small pennywhistle and slipped it into my pocket. I didn't really remember, but according to the headmaster, I had come with my sister. She had run away a long time ago, but before she did she gave me her whistle. It was my only true possession all of the rest of 'my' belongings belonged to the college.

Three hours.

It was then when I heard it. Anna. I could the screaming and cursing and I knew that they were taking her away. If I didn't act now, I would never see her again. I focused my thoughts and concentrated on the animal I was going to become and had become many times before.

ANNA

I fought the urge to throw up as they dragged me to the car that would take me away. "NO!!!" I screamed with all my might "Let me GO!!!" I called Kigali over and over and over... I couldn't leave her; we were like sisters. Then I was stuffed in the car, the door slammed in my face. I looked out the window as the car drove away and saw Buddy, the headmaster's dog, trying to catch up with the car. _Kigali_. I opened the window and yelled at her before the car sped away...

NORMAL

The dog was getting tired. It wasn't built for speed. Kigali looked at the car as it sped away, but she also heard the last words Anna yelled through the open window in the car... "Asakura... in Izumo"

Kigali knew what that meant, that was the family Anna had been sent to. She didn't have time to think about it for more than a few seconds, for she could already see the headmaster and all his aides getting on various cars. Without a second thought, Kigali dashed for the forest lining the highway and vanished in the thick growth.

KIGALI

They had taken Anna. "What now?" I asked myself, human once again. I looked over my options... and... well, there weren't many. Either I went back to the school.... No, that wasn't even an option, even if I wanted to go back, which I didn't; I would probably be punished for my behavior. I would have to find Anna myself; I would have to go all the way to Japan with zero money. Not Good, I would have to find another way... but before I could, I would need some sleep... I felt darkness closing in around me... and, amazingly, started to dream.

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So that was the first chapter! I really hope you liked it.

I'll try to update really often for you guys!

Next Chapter A Dream of the Past


	2. A Dream of the Past

Sorry this chapter is a bit long, but it explains lots of stuff that come in later on in the novel, so it's all good.

Disclaimer- Nope, STILL not mine

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**DREAMSCAPE **

The Artic. She should be cold, but somehow... she looked around her. White. Everywhere. In the distance some wolves howled the song of storm coming. She was being watched. She whirled around to look straight at herself, wait, no, not herself. She looked just like Kigali, but she looked older, in her late teens, and blue markings all over her body, like tribal tattoos. Her crystal blue eyes looked Kigali up and down. "Who are you?"

"I'm you", she smiled a fanged smile at Kigali. Wait. Fangs? Kigali looked at her closely, now she could see it. Ears. Tail. Fangs. Wolves.

"Are you a werewolf?"

"No, I'm the goddess of water and Ice. "

"You look like me!"

"You're my reincarnation, I'm you're past, you're my future. We're basically exactly the same person, except I lived 500 years in the past." She paused.

"So you're dead?" Kigali questioned. The goddess hesitated.

"No... I'm alive, because I reincarnated. I'm alive IN you." She mused, "We are shamans. We have the same powers Kigali, so I know what you're capable of." Kigali sighed. Those "abilities" had brought her tons of problems.

"This is sort of complicated, I know, but you are the reincarnation of the original goddess of water and ice, AKA me." She took a deep breath "I was one of four who helped create and preserve the world; all the elements worked and cooperated to keep earth balanced. But one day, the original god of fire turned against the rest, he believed that he should be the supreme ruler, and that the human race should have a sub-race that was worthy of our attention, thus shamans were created. People with abilities humans could only dream of. He created them, and then created the Shaman Tournament. Then, he decided to end his immortal life, to REINCARNATE as a shaman an unknown amount of years later.

"I happen to know that, like me and the other goddesses, he came back to earth for the first time since the creation of the world a thousand years ago. In that lifetime, he founded the PATCH Tribe, and he competed in the tournament. Of course we stopped him the first time, but the second time, five hundred years ago, we weren't so lucky."

"Why would he give up his immortal life?" Kigali asked, "Wouldn't he want to be immortal to destroy the human race?"

"He did that to make sure we wouldn't get in the way, he was sure that we wouldn't be there when he came back. He was sure that we wouldn't be there to stop him... but the three remaining goddesses also gave up their immortal lives, and reincarnated in this world, as shamans. Now listen to this: He reincarnated the FIRST time, a thousand years ago when he came back to earth, but in that same lifetime, he did a spell so that he could resurrect himself instead of reincarnate himself. Unfortunately, it worked.

"Memorize this well; he RESURRECTED. We REINCARNATED. That means that he'll keep his same spirit and his memory from his past lives. But when you reincarnate, you may look a bit different, you will most likely have a new personality, and you will have a new spirit, and you will remember nothing of your past life. The only thing that remains the same is your powers, and sometimes, you may have flashbacks of your past life. Keep that in mind." Kigali nodded.

"In the Shaman Tournament, shamans will compete and fight to the death," the goddess went on, "the last one standing would become Shaman King, or Queen," she added with a smile, "I do expect that they have changed the rules a little bit, but it will be the same, the Shaman King will get almost infinite power, as well a the Great Spirit, the most powerful of all spirits in this world or the next. The resurrection of the fire god took this opportunity to take over the world 500 years ago. The two other goddess shamans, as well as me, competed in the tournament to try and stop him. But we failed." She whispered.

"He gained control of armies of shamans and slaughtered humans by the thousands. We finally died fighting against him... and he became the indisputable Shaman King. Before he left, he promised the world that he would be back to participate in the Tournament again, except this time he would use the Great Spirit to gain control over all the elements. He would become all-powerful," The goddess was now wearing a worried expression Kigali had seen in the mirror many times before, "I know that SOME humans can be cruel, but they're definitely not all bad, they just fear what they don't understand. If he destroys the human race, something horrible could happen." she said simply.

"Why do you have those markings and... um... ears..." Little Kigali said awkwardly.

"This is OUR goddess form, to reflect the animal that represents the goddess of Ice and water, the wolf. He is our guardian, even though we have a connection to all animals." She paused for a second to listen to a pack of wolves howling in the distance, "The markings mean that you are one of the four gods and goddesses. Fire, air, earth, and water. That's you." She looked at Kigali, "The resurrection of the god of fire started getting his own ideas and morals, he is now regrouping an army of shamans to destroy the human race again, and his hate for them is so strong that his spirit was infused with dark energies, making him a lot more powerful than when the god of fire knew how to love," She frowned.

"Did he love YOU?" the youngest Kigali asked, feeling nosy. The goddess looked down.

"500 years ago. He must not even remember me, even if he DOES, he would only remember me as the reincarnation of the goddess of water and ice, and a powerful opponent if fought against." She turned towards Kigali and hugged her. "You must compete in the Shaman Tournament and become the Shaman Queen. You will find your team and become the leader of the group," she added with a smile "You must go to the north, where the roots of your existence originated. Just follow them and they will lead you there."

"Who's them... where's there???" The goddess just smiled.

"Of course you can't be a shaman without a spirit, so let me present you to your new companion," She whistled into the artic air, loud and clear. The whistle echoed against the glaciers and endless valleys. Then, out in the distance Kigali saw what looked like a large bird of prey flying towards them with intimidating speed. The flyer swooshed past them and Kigali saw that it wasn't a bird... not REALLY...

"She's not the spirit of water and ice that belonged to me... my spirit reincarnated also. This one is just for you. MY spirit used to be a sled dog, but according to your personality, I think yours will be a bit wilder... yes there she is. "

Kigali looked up to see a wolf. No, not a normal wolf, she was ice blue with deep blue markings all over her body like icicles. She had sapphire blue eyes and blue angel wings sprouting out of her back. Not to mention that she was probably big enough for an adult to ride. She landed and wagged her tail, looking up at both Kigalis; finally, she focused on the shorter one. The wolf looked her up and down and then, to little Kigali's amazement, shapeshifted into a girl her own age and height with azure eyes and ice-white hair that looked very much like Kigali. The girl smiled and hugged Kigali.

"Hi! I'm Zoe! I'm your spirit guardian." then she looked at the goddess and saluted. "I'll take care of her! Don't worry about a thing!"

"I trust you Kazura." She looked fondly at the pair, "And remember, sometimes, when all seems lost, you just have to look for the stars above the black clouds, for it is always darkest just before dawn" everything went black and Kigali left dreamland with those words still echoing in her head.

**NORMAL **

Kigali woke up, but kept her eyes closed tightly. The dream, it couldn't have been true... She would wake up, and Anna would be sleeping on the bottom bunk in their small room at Shallow Brook College... she would be a normal human. Kigali opened her eyes. Warmth. Blueness. Fur. Her head shot up. "What? ZOE????"

"Of course. You didn't think it was all a dream now did you?"

"No way" she lied. Zoe laughed and stretched out. "So is your name Zoe or Kazura?"

"Well, Zoe's like a nickname you know? Yours used to be Key"

"Really? Wow, I never had a nickname before"

"Well now you do! So..." she looked at Kigali "What do we do?"

"Umm... what did the lady want us to do?"

"She told us to go north," she said vaguely. Kigali raised an eyebrow.

"Zoe..." she said suspiciously, "What ELSE do you know. You HAVE to tell me." Zoe sighed.

"Fine, have you ever heard of the northern tribes?"

"Yeah, like the Ainu and stuff? I heard some professors talking about them."

"You might be a bit shocked to hear your whole life story after you ran away from the place you called home for the past five years, but I think you should know, right?"

"Yeah"

"Ok, it's like this. Your mother was born in the north, on a tribe called Kovu. She grew up there, and she never wanted to leave. She was actually VERY much like you, Kigali. Her name was Tala. Anyways, she was basically happy, but then your father came to her village to check a military base, which was nearby. They obviously fell in love. When your father left to go back to the city, he brought your mother with him. Turns out he already had a kid from his last marriage, but Tala stayed with him anyways, they married and had a daughter."

"Me?"

"Um... not EXACTLY... it was your sister, four years after her you were born, but in the mean time, your father had found out that your mother could see ghosts and talk to them, so your father had a fight with your mom and she ran away with you and your sister. She took you guys back to the village, but she died shortly afterwards because of some injuries. A year after she died, your dad came to the village again to take you and your sister, in hopes you would be 'normal', but you both had shaman powers also, so he left you guys in Shallow Brook College. After a month of being there, your sister ran away. She hasn't been heard of since. So you were raised in Shallow Brook College and met Anna." Zoe took a deep breath.

"So now we have to go back to the Kovu Village and find the tribe priestess. She's one of generations of shamans that dedicate their life to wait for the reincarnation of the goddesses when they return. The Fifth Moon Prophecy states that you are going to return to that village this winter, so... yeah..." She looked at Kigali, "are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but we better get going if we want to get to the north this winter." Zoe spread her wings and Kigali climbed up. Soon they were up in the sky on their way to the northernmost tip of Canada. To the wild and untamed tundra of Alaska.

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So that's the second chapter of Twilight's Song! Yay! Yeah, believe me, it gets better after a few chapters, so just hang with me there lol

Next Chapter: A Meeting to Remember

Please review if you can! It's my first fic, and I could use some opinions (not to be annoying or anything) Thanx!


	3. A Meeting to Remember

Third chappie here! Here the story gets a bit more involved, as you'll see.

Thanks so much to Pinkdreamer122, who was my first EVER reviewer! Give it up for her! All right! (cheers) Ok! Cool, back to the story!

Disclaimer- If I owed Shaman King, Kigali would appear in the Anime... and the manga...

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**KIGALI **

We traveled for weeks non-stop, even though it was exhausting, I have to admit that it was worth it, especially when we had to cross the Atlantic Ocean to go to North America. We skimmed the blue, choppy waves until we were sure we couldn't be seen from the beach. The light was fading. The sun was going down.

The ocean is always intimidating, I mean, don't get me wrong, I have always had a special connection to the ocean. But when the sun sets and darkness rolls across the waves, you jut can't help but be awed and abashed and a little frightened of it. Millions and millions of cubic miles of water. Twenty miles deep in places. Stretching all around the planet, touching every continent, most nations, and all islands. Home to tens of millions of species, everything from the submicroscopic to the immense.

"Key?" Zoe questioned, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Huh? What is it Zoe?"

"Look down below," I did, and I felt my spirits rise almost immediately. A pod of dolphins were swimming and skimming the waves, trying to keep up with us. Out of all the animals in the sea, the dolphin was one I absolutely loved. "I think we could use some change, what do you think of us swimming the rest of the way to North America?" We landed on the water and Zoe shifted into a bottlenose dolphin, but I couldn't, not yet, first I had to acquire some of a real dolphin's spirit to be able to shape-shift into it. Zoe swam towards the other dolphins while calling to them. They had stopped to play with this dolphin with the weird human on her back. One came and nosed my hand.

She knew what I wanted. Some people said that dolphins were more intelligent than humans, and I believed them. I put my hand on the dolphin's lateral fin and concentrated in the image of a dolphin. The dolphin went into the calm, quiet state that animals usually go into when I acquired them. I felt the dolphin's spirit merge with mine and become part of me. I took my hand away and the dolphin swam away, now back to normal. I got off Zoe and concentrated on the dolphin, I instantly felt the changes begin. In no time at all I had become a dolphin. My dolphin form was a bit different from the others, it was a lighter color, almost white, but then again, Zoe's dolphin shape was almost blue. We swam fast as torpedoes, skimming the waves. Te dolphin's personality is very much like humans, except that dolphins have no worries at all; all they want to do is have fun.

When we reached North America, I have to admit I was a bit tired of swimming and ready to take to the skies again. After all, the trip had been a week long. I wondered what Anna was doing... had she reached Japan? Should I be going there instead to the north in this wild goose chase? I wondered if- "Key?" asked Zoe as we swam towards the shore.

"What?" I replied

"Are you unsure?" I didn't say anything. I was pretty surprised, how did she know what I felt? "You know," she went on, "some spirits have special bond with their companions, so that they can feel what the other is feeling and might even be able to speak telepathically."

"We can't do that..."

"Yet, sometimes it just takes a little time. And as for going to Japan, well, all I can tell you is that you will see Anna soon enough. For now, we've got to reach the village. Don't worry, if you do, then you'll have a short life, you've got to learn that if you're calm, positive, and easy going at all times, you will have all the friends you could ever hope for." I took her advice to the heart, and promised her that I would follow it to the letter.

We reached the beach. It was a small piece of sand behind an abandoned hotel, so there weren't many people around. Without a word, Zoe went back to her winged-wolf shape and flew off with me on her back. We traveled for weeks, stopping in cities and towns for food, but always staying within uninhabited areas, Zoe said that I couldn't be found yet, and that there was someone on their trail. North. They kept on going. Hiding. It kept on getting colder.

When we reached Canada's border Zoe got me a small fox-skin parka. I complained about animal rights, but Zoe told me to shut up because my shaman immunity against the cold wasn't activated yet, so if I wouldn't warm myself up, I would probably die. I really DID shut up after that.

But the parka didn't really help against the freezing temperature and bitter winds of the stormy skies of the north. I men, it was COLD. Cold. So cold. If you had filled up a bathtub with cold water, put it in a walk in freezer, added 50 pounds of Ice, and THEN got in, you still wouldn't feel a fraction of what I was feeling. I felt completely numb all over. "Zoe" I tried to talk, but only a small breath cloud came out. Fortunately, with sharp canine earshot she heard me.

"Hang on Kigali, stay sharp. We'll be landing soon." What? Soon. Soon? Soon what? My mind felt cloudy and I felt sooo sleepy... now the razor sharp wind wasn't cutting into my skin as hard anymore. The cold wasn't as bitter, as if I didn't feel it, as if I was watching the blizzard from inside a warm blanket. My vision turned to gray then to black. Zoe's blue fur turned to a dull violet and then disappeared altogether. Sooo sleepy. I was flying! Floating! Like an eagle, flying and riding thermals... sweeping and diving... then... a light! So far away... like a star... it was calling me... summoning me... I couldn't refuse, I HAD to reach it somehow. But something was wrong. Something wouldn't let me... something at the back of my mind... I could sorta hear it...

"Kigali! Hold on girl! Stay awake or you'll die!" Die? Me? So what...? I just wanted to sleep... I flew towards the star... the light... it was so close I could feel its warmth. "Kigali, hold on, I'm going on a full dive!" Huh??? Dive? It had no meaning to me. I was almost at the light... ALMOST THERE... then, suddenly... wind! The cold was back... worse than ever! No matter, all I had to do is reach the light and then I'd be warm... I flew up towards the light again... faster... almost th—Crunch!

"Oh my—" Freezing--- something---went up my nose and mouth. Wha...? Snow! I gasped and coughed for air. I had fallen face-first into a snowdrift. Cold. All of the sudden I was wide awake and I would probably have traded my left lung for a fire. I looked around me. A snowstorm was raging. To my right Zoe was furiously digging into another snowdrift

"Zoe?" she ran up to me, grabbed the collar of my parka and dragged me over to the hole she made. A den. She curled up around me, radiating warmth. Then I fell into a dreamless sleep.

**ZOE **

She fell asleep. Not the death sleep, it was the dream sleep. I breathed a sigh of relief. That had been close... too close. I had been careless, even if she WAS a shaman, she was still a child. She would be safe here; a snow den could keep the cold out and the warmth in on desperate situations. "She will be safe here..." I repeated to myself. I inched my way to the den entrance. If anybody saw me, the entrance to the den would be discovered. I looked around. Clear. With one last look at the den, I spread my wings and took off. I would have to find out our surroundings before setting off towards the village again.

**KIGALI **

I started waking up. The cold was still there, but it wasn't that bad anymore. Zoe was gone also. I looked around me. Where the heck was I? Snow... Ice...underground... Oh... I remembered. The den that Zoe had made last...night?...morning? I had no idea how long I'd been asleep. I had lost complete track of time. I stuck my head out the opening. A flurry of snowflakes hit me square in the face. Cold. I got out of the den anyways. I looked at my surroundings. The now calm storm had frosted everything in my sight, everything was white. White, white, white, rock, white, whi—wait! I looked back at the medium sized rock, not believing my eyes. A boy. A boy was sitting on the rock, in a meditating-like state. Alone. An alarm rang in my head. This was no normal boy. I chose to ignore the alarm and focused on the boy instead. Weird. He had long dark brown hair, up to his hip. He had Indian-looking red, white, and blue earrings. He was wearing a vanilla-colored cape/poncho that covered his shoulders and chest. He also had some weird kind of matching boots and gloves. They were maroon and navy-blue, and looked like Lego pieces, squareish with two cylindrical thatches at the wrists and toe tips. The glove's fingers were cut off, so that the boy's fingers had more precision. A white star shone in the back of the glove's palms, surrounded by a blue background.

Like I said: weird. I fought an urge to giggle, but did so anyways. It wasn't the boy's clothes that were funny... it was just that Shallow Brook was an all girl's school, and me, having spent most of my life there, had only seen males... especially my age... very few times, of course not counting the principal and some select male teachers.

He must have heard me giggling, because he turned around and looked at me. Straight at me. I blushed. He smiled at me and motioned for me to sit next to him. I did. He looked me over and I almost forgot that it was freezing cold. Almost, but somehow, the boy seemed to know. He took off his cape and handed it to me. I was going to say thank you, but instead I said, "aren't you cold?" He laughed a carefree laugh that reminded me of someone... someone I knew...

"That's why I'm here. To train myself for the Shaman Tournament." The Shaman Tournament! He knew. So did I, but he couldn't know that. Zoe's words echoed in my head 'whatever you do, don't let ANYONE know you're a shaman'.

"Shaman? What the heck is THAT?" I asked, but I was too nervous, he probably knew I was lying. Crap. The boy looked at me suspiciously.

"So, what's a pretty human like you doing in the middle of nowhere?" He tested me.

"My village is nearby" I lied instantly.

"There's no village nearby" He laughed triumphantly, "where's your spirit, girl?

" I don't know what you're talking about" a traditional excuse. Too bad nobody believed it anymore.

"Come on, any human would have died at this temperature by now, you have to be a shaman." So he had been testing me all this time!

"Then I suppose you're a shaman too?" I replied.

"In the flesh" Man, this guy was getting in my nerves, his attitude that was very cocky, but I got a feeling that he wasn't bluffing. A very strong aura came off of him. A very familiar aura. "Well, still, I'm glad you're a shaman, you're too pretty to be an useless human," I blushed, but he kept going, "You see, I'm looking for allies for the shaman tournament."

"Allies? Don't you have any friends?"

"Friendship is just a weak human emotion, it can do nothing but bring you down. Allies are better than friends any day, because... well, just because." He shrugged.

"Everyone needs friends" I said, remembering Anna. "Hey I know! I'll be YOUR friend, since you have none, how about it?"

"I don't NEED any friends" He crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Well, you may not need any, but I do. I just lost my best friend, I could use another person to talk to, and I bet you could too, right?" His frown slowly disappeared.

"Well, I—" He was suddenly cut off. I looked around to see what was wrong and saw that a huge grizzly was standing a few yards away from us. I looked back at the boy and saw him backing away and reaching for a memorial tablet, containing his spirit no doubt. But I somehow knew how fast the bear was. The grizzlies charged at him, fast. But I was closer. I ran forward and tackled the boy, sending him out of the bear's path, which was fine, except now I was in the bear's way. I stood my ground and charged back at him. He got confused and stopped immediately. Maybe that's what gave me enough time to grab him around the neck and acquire his spirit. He went into a calm state as his spirit became mine and vice versa, then I pulled away and started switching into my bear shape. Huge shoulders, rail-spike claws, and shaggy brown fur grew out, as I rapidly became a grizzly bear.

I advanced the bear and tackled him around the ribs. Bear to bear! The grizzly didn't even flinch. I dropped on all fours and slammed into the other bear's shoulder. Brown on brown. The grizzly roared in fury, but I roared back just as much.

Raking claws! Snapping jaws! I had never felt anything like this, all the times I had fought before were only childish fistfights with the other kids back in Shallow Brook. But this was different. This was new. I stood nearly ten feet tall reared up. I weighed maybe fifteen hundred pounds, and if those numbers don't mean anything to you think about it this way; I was three feet taller than Shaquille O'Neal and weighed _five _times as much as him. I could have dribbled Shaq the length of the court and stuffed him down the basket like a basketball. I was mighty. I was seriously mighty.

The bear and I were on our hind legs now, swinging away like a pair of heavyweights. But I wasn't winning. I wasn't losing, but I wasn't winning either. I shoved. The grizzly shoved back and I landed on my back. I saw a spray of blood across the grizzly's chest. My blood. But we were up once again, on all fours, circling, circling, lunging!

WHAM! I could use some help. The other bear was a hair taller, maybe heavier too. On the other hand, I was a human... er... shaman. He might have more experience as a bear, but I had the ability to reason.

The grizzly rose to its full height, ready to come crashing down on me. That's when I rolled into it. Not a bear move. The grizzly went down, tripping over me to slam jaw-first into the ice. He stayed there for a while, looking sideways at my panting form every once in a while to see if I was going to finish him off. When I didn't, he slowly stood up and calmly walked away with the clumsy grace of a bear.

I winced as I returned to my human form. The grizzly had cut a gash across my side. I was definitely not feeling good, but I still had to endure it if I wanted out of this place. I looked towards the boy, which was unconscious on the snow next to the rock and walked over to him. He had a pulse... he was breathing... everything felt normal, but his temperature was falling fast. So much for not feeling cold.

I heaved the boy into the snowdrift Zoe had dug out, laid him down and covered him in his cloak. He didn't even stir. It would be a long wait. It was. After I dressed the wound I had received from the bear, I found myself falling asleep and growing increasingly colder. On second thought, I slipped in next to the boy under his cape and we slept together in the innocence that only children have.

**DREAMSCAPE **

I was in the artic dream zone again. I groaned, what now? There was no one around me, so I just started walking around the hardened snow in pointless purpose. After a while I started getting that feeling you get when someone's watching you, I looked around and saw a huge tree rising hundreds of feet high. I stared open mouthed; this thing had jut popped out of nowhere! I walked towards it and put my hand on its scarred trunk. I had never seen it before... yet... I HAD. It was an old tree, centuries old, its bark was rough and scarred, and it didn't have any leaves. It was a tree in winter, only log, thick branches, but no leaves.

"It looks dead," I concluded. That's when I saw a black blur dash down the tree. "What the..?" the blur came to a stop on one of the branches closest to me. It was a raven.

I didn't know too much about ravens then, but I DID know that they were artic birds similar to a crow. It looked at me with intelligent eyes and a peculiar aura, and then, to my total shock, it said, "Mistress Kigali, we are glad you are well." It took me five whole minutes before I got over my shock, remembered that I was dreaming, and that Zoe also spoke, so it was probable that this raven was also a spirit. It was also then that my brain processed what the raven had said.

"We?" I asked, then I looked around me to find that forming a ring around me were a fox, a deer, a wolf, a grizzly (which I stayed clear of), and a seal. I had been so intent in looking up at the raven that I hadn't noticed them. You COULD say this wasn't one of my smarter moments. The raven flew from the tree and landed on my shoulder, much to my delight, and spoke again.

"My name is Typhoon" Then, all the rest of the animals started announcing their names.

"I'm Taiga," said the deer.

"I am called Tundra," barked the wolf.

"I was named Timber," growled the bear.

"I'm known as Tsunami," called out the seal.

"And I, am Tropic," yipped the fox.

The raven spoke again, "We are here to guide your way to the Kovu Village," the Kovu village! "Remember your task Kigali of Twilight." And with that, my vision turned blurry and I felt the raven's soft weight leave my shoulder as I traveled back to reality.

**HAO **

I woke up with a bad headache, as if a sledgehammer had hit me. I was very disoriented, with no memory of what had happened last night. I found my eyes resting on the small girl lying next to me. What had the great Hao come down to? I quickly swallowed my words as my brain registered what I had been looking at for five whole minutes now. There was a deep scratch across the girl's ribs.

My memory suddenly flooded back as the girl stirred. I watched in trance-like fascination as she slowly opened her eyes and sat up to look at me confidently. Me being me, I wasn't used to people who knew who I was looking at me with no fear in their eyes, with confidence and determination like the way this girl was looking at me. But then again, she didn't know who I was. She probably would soon.

"You fought that bear alone." It wasn't a question, more of an accusation. But the girl just smiled and unconsciously covered her wound.

"I'm fine. I really feel sorry for the bear." She laughed. I looked into the girl's sapphire blue eyes. I looked for lies. How did this girl do it? I didn't sense any spirits besides mine for miles, and a shaman without his spirit might as well be human. Except more powerful of course. THIS little girl without a spirit had beaten something that had knocked me unconscious? I stared at her in disbelief. She just smiled cheerfully.

At that point a raven flew overhead. In the Patch Tribe, where I was born, we took signs in nature, and the raven usually represents either dreams or death. It is said that if you dream of a raven with his back facing you at the foot of your bed, one of your deepest desires will be granted. But if you dream of a raven at the foot of your bed facing towards you, it means death has come for you. To my amazement, the raven landed directly on the girl's shoulder. She smiled sadly and turned towards me.

"I guess this is goodbye," she said.

"We'll see each other sooner than you think."

"Yeah, yeah... that's what they all say." She must be thinking about her lost friend. I smiled calmly.

"No, you don't understand. After I finish my training and go looking for allies, I'll come to get you. We'll fight in the tournament together." She sighed and took a small object from her pocket and forced it into my hand.

"You better take this. It might bring you luck, don't look at it yet." I took off my earrings. I had gotten them at the Patch Village, and I could get more. I gave them to her.

"These are lucky too." I laughed in amusement as she giggled and put them on. They looked good on her, as if she had come from the Patch Village herself. She took off my cloak and handed it to me. Then she smiled one last time, waved, and serenely walked away.

"What's your name?" I called out after her, feeling that she should be asking this question. She answered without looking back.

"Hmm? Oh, they call me Kigali." Then she walked away with the raven on her shoulder. When she was out of sight, I opened my hand. There was a small penny whistle there. I blew it and expected it to sound high pitched and screechy, but instead, a beautiful melody came out. It rang like a bell across the tundra. I smiled.

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Lady Dragonfly- Yeah, I know I got a bit poetic in the ocean part Hehehe.

Kigali-Oh well, it was fun anyhow.

Lady Dragonfly-Please tell me how you like it! Lol, it makes me feel special when I read my reviews.

Zoe- You mean SPEDcial? Yeah. We knew that.

Lady Dragonfly- Zoe....

Zoe- I'm sorry!

Kigali- Anyhow, stay tuned to Twilight's Song!

Next Chapter- "Of Relatives and Tournaments"

See you then!


	4. Of Relatives and Tournaments

Thanks so much to Helena-Jeanne-Chibi who reviewed my story! You're great, ppl! I hope you guys keep reading my story. I had a pretty good time writing it.

Disclaimer- I own nothing of Shaman King. Nope. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

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**KIGALI**

I must admit that I was fairly surprised when the raven landed on my shoulder, but as soon as I remembered my dream I knew what to do. I walked nonstop for many hours, across the snowy tundra. When night arrived, the raven turned her head to look at me and somehow I knew what she wanted. _Take my spirit_. I put my hands carefully on her black feathers and closed my eyes. The raven became part of me and I became part of it. I opened my eyes as the raven snapped out of its stunned phase. Then, it spread its wings and with a final caw flew away. I was left alone.

The fog grew thick. So thick, that I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me. I was scared. Zoe should have been back for me by now. I fingered my bracelet absently. It brought many memories. I remembered, how Anna and I had stolen one of the bead necklaces from the town Itako and made two matching bracelets out of them. Itako beads had always fascinated Anna, even though the Itako at Shallow Brook had fraud; she thought that the beads were for jewelry. But the bracelets still had much spiritual power; it just kicked in at odd, random times. I touched the cool surface of the black beads and felt more tranquil. This must be one of those times. My head suddenly cleared and I decided to go on. I HAD to run into the village eventually, maybe I could—YIP! My head jolted towards the sound. Out of the thick fog a beautiful artic fox came into view, smiling at me with her tawny eyes.

She passed me, stopped, and looked back. _Follow me_. It took some time, but I eventually managed to find a pace to keep up with the fox. Skip... skip... backtrack... jump... turn... skip... skip... skip... we eventually stopped in front of a forest. The fox sat down at the foot of a frosted pine tree and looked at me expectantly, then looked a path going into the forest. _Go ahead_. With one last look at the fox, I stepped into the forest line. As I did, something clicked in my mind, I sensed Zoe nearby, her and another aura... I kept on walking until a clearing came visible.

In the clearing, there was a small log cabin with a chimney and small, square windows. I probably would have gone inside and nosed around, but at that moment, a woman came out of the cabin. She had long, raven-black hair, she wore a white dress of a thin material like silk, but she didn't seem to be cold. But then again, I was only wearing a short sleeve shirt (the parka was long gone) and felt considerably warm. I kept watching the woman. She was holding some beads very much like the ones in my bracelet, which seemed to be leading something out of the house. At the door, she stopped, sighed and turned around to pull hard at the beads, trying to drag whatever she was holding out of the house. I was in mid-giggle when Zoe suddenly popped out of the house, completely wrapped in the beads, and growling savagely. I felt myself immediately jump out of my hiding place and run in at the woman in a football-style undertake, but instead, found myself flying face first into the snow. Again. The woman had dodged the tackle with inhuman speed, and was now standing above me, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Like spirit, like shaman." She sighed. I jumped up and steadied myself, and then I frowned at the woman. She sighed again and let go of the beads, liberating Zoe, who quickly turned into a kitten and hid behind my hair, hissing malevolently at the woman. She opened her hand and the beads flew back to her palm, then she narrowed her eyes and surveyed me critically.

"Is this how one says hi to family?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" Zoe growled. The woman just kept talking, ignoring Zoe.

"We've been expecting you Kigali,"

"How do you know –"

"Your name? Well, I WAS there when they named you and I was ALSO the one who took care of you after your mom died and before your so called father took you." She paused dramatically. "You see Kigali, I'm Tabitha, the Priestess of the Kovu Village."

ZOE

At first I felt numb, then happy, then embarrassed. "You're the tribe priestess???"

"We've made it to the Kovu village!!!!!!" Kigali squealed, "but that still doesn't explain why we're family..."

"Oh that..." replied Tabitha, "Yea well, I also happen to be your aunt"

"My aunt?????!!!!!!!!!"

"Yeah, but that's not going to help you any against the others"

"The others???" I questioned numbly.

"Of course. There are at least twenty girls here claiming to be the Goddess of Water and Ice." It took us five whole minutes to digest what Tabitha had said, and then we started yelling at the same time.

"B... b... but the goddess of ice and water came to me in a dream and—"

"I am the spirit of ice and water. THE ONLY ONE! How can YOU not see that!!!!"

"—told me that I had to come here and—"

"She looks exactly like the goddess!!!! I mean—"

"—I traveled all the way from Europe and—"

"OK!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tabitha yelled. We shut up almost immediately. "I know that. I've been hearing those same exact words since this winter started! Everyone in this and nearby villages and tribes knows about the Fifth Moon Prophecy. That's why every young girl with shaman powers of ice or water came here, and," she added, looking at me, "Some of them had wolf spirits too."

"She talked to me in a dream." Kigali said evenly.

"Yea, that's what they all said. There are twenty girls here, but only one is the goddess's reincarnation. To find her, I have put on a series of tests that will tell me who she is. Nothing would make me prouder that if you turned out to be the reincarnation, Kigali, but you'll have to prove that to me, and to the council of elders, because I won't make a unfair decision." With that, she turned around and started walking towards the forest. "Follow me, the tribe has set up tents for the newcomers. I'll show you yours." I turned into a snow weasel and curled up around Kigali's neck. This was going to be harder than I thought.

**KIGALI **

We walked out of the forest and into a village full of small wooden cabins, which looked smaller than the one I saw Tabitha come out of. Smoke rose into the air from the chimneys as the tribes-people cooked their meals.

"Hey Tabitha?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do these houses look different from the one back there?"

"That's the house were we um... store... things. These are the ones people live in." At that moment we came upon the center of the Kovu Village. It took my breath away. It was a large, circular space surrounded by the smaller cabins, inside the circle, there were around ten medium-sized tepees with tribal markings painted on them. At the center there was a gigantic totem pole rising up in the artic sky. I looked at the animals in the totem pole. Raven. Fox. Wolf. Seal. Deer. Bear.

"Look familiar?" asked Tabitha.

"I saw them in my dream!!!"

"Of course." That wasn't Tabitha. Zoe yelped and fell off my shoulder and transformed into a wolf again, but normal sized. There was a raven sitting lazily on Tabitha's shoulder.

"You!"

"I believe you've met Typhoon?" I just nodded.

"She's one of my main spirits."

"One of them??? How many spirits CAN you have???"

"As many as you can handle. Of course, the spirit's power is an important factor also."

"How many do you...?"

"Six. Typhoon the raven spirit, Tundra the wolf spirit, Tsunami the seal spirit, Timber the bear spirit, Tropic the fox spirit, and—"

"Taiga the deer spirit!"

"No... Taiga the CARIBOU spirit."

"Oh... whatever."

"Anyways, that's your tent" she said, pointing, "You will room with two other visitors. Good luck." She waved and hurried off to a big cabin on the edge of the area. Great. I took a deep breath, drew back the door-flap of the tent, and went inside. A blue haired girl a bit younger than me ran up to me as soon as she saw me enter. She greeted me eagerly with one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen.

"Hi! I'm Pilika! I guess we'll be rooming together, that's great!!! So what's your name?"

"I'm Kigali, and that's Zoe, my spirit..." I replied, pointing at her, now a white dove perched in the rafters of the tent.

"You have a dove spirit?"

"Nah..." I said as Zoe flew down and became a snow-hare, "She's a shape-shifter. Stop showing off, Zoe!" She was now jumping around in a ruffle of feathers, hair, claws, and fangs. Pilika laughed, and a small elf-like creature floated out from behind her hair, holding a lily pad over its head like an umbrella.

"This is my spirit, Kororo... well... actually, she's my brothers, but since he's not a girl, he couldn't come. He let me borrow Kororo for this competition"

"What is she?" inquired Zoe.

"She's one of the Koro Pokkuru," She answered; obviously amazed that Zoe could talk, "They are the sacred people of my tribe."

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the Ainu tribe," she said, pointing proudly at her headband, which had unique markings printed on it, "What are you?"

"Oh... um... I'm from here, but I'm also sort of a newcomer."

"Huh? Why?"

"I was taken away from here when I was a baby. I just came back."

"Oh! That's so cool! I- I mean it's bad how you were taken away from the north and all, but it's really awesome how we're both new here. Later on, let's go explore it together and—" she didn't finish her sentence, because another girl had entered the tent.

She looked about ten with straight, bright red hair and yellowish-brown eyes. Her fox spirit (with matching amber eyes and red fur) walked up from behind the girl. I expected Pilika to make a fuss over the new girl like she did with me, but she just stood there and glared at her. The girl glared right back at us, the fox flipped its tail in flashy displeasure. Zoe scoffed incredulously. Kororo squeaked and hid behind Pilika's hair again.

"So, you're rooming with me," she addressed the remark at me.

"Us." Corrected Pilika.

"My name's Nagini, from the Volkan Tribe. I'm the oldest here, so you'll have to do everything I say."

"I think NOT!" Pilika protested, but was ignored once more.

"There's a few rules I'm going to put down, and you're going to obey," she flipped her hair.

"I don't think so, Nagini," I argued, "We're all equals in this competition, so—"

"No, we're not. I'm the real goddess of water and therefore stronger than both of you midgets put together. You're wasting your time here, because in the first test tomorrow, you are going to be disqualified and I'm going to laugh at you, so you better get used to it right now, got it?" she whirled around and headed for the door. Zoe was snarling violently at the Nagini's fox, who was growling malevolently back at her. "Come on, Leesa. We've got more important things to do." Nagini called back at the fox. Leesa gave a fancy swirl and glided after her shaman partner. I looked at Nagini's retreating back and scowled.

"And that, my friends, is what we call a vixen."

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Lady Dragonfly- And that's the fourth chapter of Twilight's Song!

Kigali- Yeah! I hope you'll tune in for more

Lady Dragonfly- Review if you can! Not to be pushy or anything lol

Kigali- It's all good though

Lady Dragonfly- Next Chapter... The First Test!

Kigali- See ya!


	5. The First Test

I'd like to apologize for the obscene language in my review page. I'm really, really sorry, and I hope nobody was offended by it. I don't know why somebody would do something so mean. Anyways, I'm sorry!

This chapter is a bit short, lol. I'll make the next one longer,

Disclaimer- (sigh) not mine yet

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**ZOE **

I must admit that morning came too early for everyone. Even Nagini, with her overconfident attitude, looked paler than usual this morning. Pilika was nervously cradling Kororo who, if possible, looked even more anxious than her. As for Kigali, she was sitting calmly in the corner of the tent, waiting for the elders to call the participants. She might have looked peaceful, but I knew better.

"Hey, Zoe?" she said carefully, picking her nail casually. I twitched an ear to show I was listening. "What if... what if someone else turns out to be the goddess of water and ice?

"Impossible." The question disturbed me.

"Just pretend"

"Ok," I thought hard. "We would... we would... I don't know what we would do." I admitted.

"Very reassuring."

"Have some faith in yourself, Key. I know that there will be many obstacles in our way to the Shaman Tournament, but I also know that you will meet them with the courage and might of the future Shaman Queen." I praised myself silently as Kigali smiled, but the smile soon vanished to be replaced by a serious look as the horn signaling the gathering of the participants in the center of the village, around the totem pole. Kigali got up and walked out of the door. Pilika hiccupped and followed her closely as many other girls around their same age started coming out of the colorful tents. Everything was tense in anticipation, I leaned my wolf body against Kigali's leg, she relaxed about a hair. I had turned into your average white wolf as to not attract attention.

The horn blew again and everyone went quiet as Tabitha stepped into a platform set up in front of the totem pole. She looked over the crowd and spoke.

"I understand that all of you come from different tribes claiming to be the true goddess of the north. The Fifth Moon Prophecy claims that only one of you will walk into the Elder's Temple to be titled. Only one." Pilika squirmed uncomfortably, "To identify the true goddess here, I have set up a series of tests and trials that only the goddess of water and ice will be able to pass. The tests will start out easy enough, but will get harder. The first test will be the elimination type, so ready yourselves for it." A young boy walked up into the platform, carrying two baskets, one black, and one white.

"In each of these baskets, there are twenty small envelopes with twenty pieces of paper in them. I have treated these to dye themselves. The ones in the black basket should turn red if held by someone with enough shaman power to be one ancient ones, and the ones in the white basket should turn blue if held by someone with water and ice elemental powers. To pass this test, both of your papers must be tinted. I bid you luck." She stepped backwards as a line started forming in front of the baskets. Kigali looked at me in panic.

"Zoe, I don't know if my elements are ice and water, I never used them..."

"They've got to be. You survived the cold of the artic, trust your powers." She took a deep breath and reached into the black basket, then the white one. We went back to our spot besides a panicky Pilika.

"You may now open your envelopes." Announced Tabitha. I transformed into a mink and climbed up to Kigali's shoulder for a better view. She nervously opened the first envelope and got out a blue piece of paper.

"BLUE!" She cried happily, "Now, if we only had enough shaman power...." She opened the other envelope and a red sheet of paper slid out.

"YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed and tossed me up in the air, then cached me again and gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"I knew you could do it Key!"

"Yeah!" After the happy-hangover was over, we started picking up on other sounds around us. There were people cheering and crying, but a particular sobbing sound especially reached our ears. Kigali turned to see Pilika sitting on the ground howling and clutching a sobbing Kororo. Key went immediately to her side and hugged her.

"Pilika! You didn't make it???"

"NO! Because I'm not a strong enough shaman!" she cried, holding out a blue and a white sheet of paper. "I just have enough sixth-sense to see, talk, and touch spirits. My brother's the real shaman in my family. What will I tell them???" Kigali sighed and squeezed Pilika's hand.

"You'll tell them that you did all you could, 'cause you did." She cried until Tabitha started to talk again, after that she just hiccupped quietly while hugging Kororo and me. I twisted my ear backwards to hear what Tabitha was saying.

"Congratulations to all who made it. I look forward to the second test, which will take place this afternoon. I cannot tell you what the test will be yet, but I hint you to prepare your spirits. To those who didn't make it, have a safe trip back to your respective tribes. I shall see the victors later on today." She turned and walked off the platform. Everyone immediately started talking again, comparing the results and shades of color of their little papers. Kigali and I led Pilika back to our tent and helped her pack for her trip back to the Ainu Village.

"Hey Kigali?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me if you make it ok?" Kigali smiled.

"It'll be tough competition, but if I DO make it, I'll find a way to tell you."

"OK! Well... I guess this is goodbye." Pilika said sadly

"For now"

"Of course!" Pilika laughed. She and Kororo waved and walked off into the tundra. Kigali sighed.

"I guess now it's just us, Nagini and that vixen of hers..."

"Don't remind me!" I groaned.

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That's the end of chapter five then! Yay! I hope you guys are enjoying it. Please ignore the rude reviewer, I don't know WHAT the heck HE was thinking, but I'm working on trying to remove it.

Next Chapter- Of Hot Springs and Rivals

Review if you can!


	6. Of Hot Springs and Rivals

Hey people! Here's the 6th chappie of Twilight's Song! Sorry it's a bit long. Might have overdone it, Hehehe. Anyhow, thanks so much to Wingweaver22 and Helena-Jeanne-Chibi for reviewing! You guys are the BEST! Yay!

Disclaimer- (cries) I don't own Shaman King!!! Why??? WHYYYYYYY????

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**KIGALI **

When returned to our tent Nagini was sitting in her bed, meditating.

"I bet she's pretending," whispered Zoe. I chuckled and sat down in my bed.

"What do you think the second test will be?" I whispered back to Zoe, as to not disturb Nagini.

"Well, she did say that you had to prepare you spirits. I should be the nervous one."

"Are you nervous then?"

"Nope" she answered.

"Why?"

"Well, it's no use being nervous about something you can't help. Remember that the best preparation to a test or trial is tranquility."

"Hey you two! Keep it down why don'cha!" Nagini yelled from across the tent.

"Shut up!" I yelled back.  
"You know, Kilany,"

"It's Kigali."

"Whatever, I'm very surprised that you made it this far, and I sorta feel sorry for you..." she let it hang dramatically. My patience was draining fast.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" I snapped at her.

"Well, you see, I happen to know that one of the tests will be, in fact, a Shaman Fight. Of course you won't make it that far, but if by some strange miracle you did, I would have to fight with you, and since you and that blue friend of yours have annoyed me since you've stepped into this tent, I'll have to kill you and that irritating little spirit of yours. After all, in the contest my tribe had to find out who was the better shaman, I won all of my fights..." She looked at me slyly, "Have you even integrated with your spirit yet?"

"Integrated?" I asked before I could stop myself. Nagini rolled her eyes.

"Fused? Combined? United? Become one? No?" I snuck a sideways look at Zoe, who had bristled up like a porcupine. "Oh man, now I REALLY feel sorry for you, but I won't waste my time on you, since we won't be fighting after all, I better prepare my beautiful Leesa for the test." She tossed her hair and closed her eyes, meditating once more. Zoe snorted.

"I don't see how meditating will help any."

"Well..." I ventured, "If Nagini's doing it, it might do something..."

"Might as well try!" Zoe changed into her ivory-haired human form and closed her cerulean eyes. Then she crossed her legs and joined her index finger and thumb into a meditating-like position. She peeked at me from behind her eyelashes.

"Like this?" I copied her pose.

"Yup" I breathed in and out peacefully. Maybe too peacefully, but I'm proud to say that I didn't fall asleep. Until after five minutes after, that is.

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I woke up later on that day to find messy hair and a snoring Zoe half on the floor and half on top of the bed. I shook her shoulder and she fell on the floor with a cry.

"What?"

"Hey weren't we supposed to remember something?" She thought for a second, and then jumped up with a gasp.

"The second test!!!!!" I joined in her panic attack and jumped up, tripping over her and sending both of us down to the floor.

"Ok, ok, just relax, we still have time, look!" she pointed outside, where a crowd had gathered in front of the platform, but Tabitha wasn't on it yet. I grabbed Zoe's arm and dragged her to the assembly place. As I reached the crowd, a flash of red caught my eye. Nagini was talking to a girl with black hair and a freckly brunette. They were looking at her with utmost admiration, as if in the presence of a queen. Zoe made a face. When she saw me, Nagini laughed and pointed. The other girls followed suit, probably to get on Nagini's good side. I turned around and tried to ignore them. Luckily, Tabitha had climbed the stage and was yelling to get rid of the excited chattering of the crowd.

"Saved by the aunt." Snickered Zoe. By that time, Tabitha had gotten rid of the chatter and started to talk in a loud, melodious voice.

"Welcome to the second test. As you might have noticed, the crowd is thinner today,"

"Thank god for that!" somebody muttered.

"Only fourteen of you have made it past the first test, BUT! I WILL remind you yet again that the tests WILL get harder as we go! Ok, now, the second test..." she paused dramatically "... will be a spirit-fight mini-competition," There was a rush of exited whispers at this announcement, but they were soon hushed as Tabitha started talking again. "This, is a competition where the contestants will be paired against each other and may choose ONLY ONE of their spirits to fight for them." she said, looking sternly at a small violet-haired girl who was struggling with a litter of several husky puppy spirits, which were squirming all over the place. "No integration will be allowed in this test. The participator whose spirit is unable to battle first will be the loser. The test will take place in an arena about four miles from here. I'll meet all of you there in half an hour, no less. Those who don't make it there by that time will be disqualified."

She turned around and called upon her raven spirit, who, to my total attention, integrated with a black feather in Tabitha's hair. The feather glowed white and two black wings sprung from Tabitha's back. She spread her new-grown wings and took to the air with astounding speed. Most of the girls, which including me were left open-mouthed, started recovering from Tabitha's surprise takeoff and were calling their own spirits for methods of transportation.

"What was that?" I asked Zoe, referring to my aunt's strange type of integration.

"There are many different types of integration. The most common one is Spirit Unity, in which the shaman and the spirit unite to fight as one. The one Tabitha used, I think was called Spirit Control, in which a shaman channels a spirit in to an object and is able to focus enormous amounts of power through that object. I think it works best if the object is one that represents the spirit... like you would use a feather for a raven, or a sword for a samurai..."

"And what is the form of the object-spirit thing called?"

"Oversoul"

"Aha! Gotcha, one last question though... what do you call a shaman's power? Like, the fuel that runs the Oversoul and the integration."

"It's called Furyoku, and by trying to get to the arena faster, those girls are using up their spirit's Furyoku, it takes time to restore it."

"How much time?"

"Depends on three things: How much Furyoku was used up, how strong the spirit is, and how strong the shaman is. We should find a way of getting there without wasting furyoku... I know!!! We'll just hijack one of the dog-sleds they have here and—"

"Wait, what if you just shape change into a... something and take me there yourself... that wouldn't waste any Furyoku... would it?"

"Oh, umm... no..." she blushed. I laughed.

"Didn't mean to burst your bubble." I cheered as she changed into a fleet-footed deer.

"It's alright."

"Aren't I too heavy to ride a deer?"

"Nope! The deer's the fastest thing around, besides, you're skinny enough to be lifted by a balloon, so don't worry about it, 'cause we're already late." I climbed hesitantly on Zoe's back and she jerked into a speedy run across the permafrost, with me hanging on for dear life.

As we rode on, several spirit-riding girls passed overhead in a colorful variety of Oversouls, so I wasn't surprised to find a small mob of exited girls blocking my view to the gathering place. Zoe went into lynx shape and jumped in my arms.

I stood on my tiptoes to try to look over the gaggle of heads jamming the way, but I didn't happen to be the tallest one around, there was an array of ages from six to twelve-year-olds. I was seven, but as Zoe put it, 'You can always use age and size as a benefit, being it large or small' and that's just what I was going to do.

I got down to my knees and crawled among the legs of the contestants, followed by an amused Zoe. Finally, I made it to the front of the multitude and looked around at the fighting arena.

"Wow! Get a load of THIS!" Whispered Zoe. I nodded speechlessly. She was right. The fighting arena was a huge clearing in the middle of the dense, coniferous forest. It had to be around the size of two football fields, there was no grass, since it was too cold for that, and there was a small cabin on each side of the field. I looked around at my opponents. They seemed as awestruck as I was.

"They have ice powers, all right," Noted Zoe, "Some of them are as underdressed as you are." Surly enough, I observed that some of them were wearing short sleeve shirts, skirts, and shorts, but didn't look cold. I looked down at my own clothes. White T-shirt with a blue star in the front (matching the earrings that weird boy gave me) and a schoolgirl blue skirt (which that fat headmaster in Shallow Brook made me and Anna wear) they were quite a bit dirty and even a bit bloody, from the fight with the bear. The wound had healed quickly with a special medicinal plant that Pilika had kindly treated me with. It had magically vanished. Almost. I turned my attention to the arena as most of the crowd went quiet. Tabitha had walked out of one of the cabins and was walking towards our group. She looked much less intimidating without her dumb old platform to raise her up a few feet. Zoe was probably thinking along those lines, because she started quietly laughing as soon as Tabitha turned around to receive a box from one of her assistants.

"Welcome to the second test, I see you all made it in time. Good job. In this test, drawing numbers from this box will pair you against your rival. Now, divide into two groups of seven." There was a mild commotion as everyone swarmed around, making sure to be in the same teams as their friends.

"There's no point in being in the same teams as your friends," Tabitha criticized, "even if you DON'T fight them now, you'll fight them eventually if you pass the test." I knew she was right, but I couldn't help but sigh in relief when I located Nagini in the midst of my small group.

When everyone settled down, Tabitha and a male assistant split up with identical boxes to opposite groups. The assistant held out the box to Nagini, who drew a piece of paper and winked at the assistant, who was about five years older. Unfortunately for Nagini, the assistant decided to ignore her. I choked down a laugh as I picked a number next. 5. I looked at Tabitha, who had begun to appoint 'corners'.

"Ones to the top left corner..." Zoe hopped down from my arms and turned into her usual sapphire-winged-wolf shape. "Threes go to the lower right corner..." I gave Zoe the usual pep talk she usually gave ME. "Fives go to the center and to the right..." I walked towards my battle area. There were butterflies in my stomach, but I swallowed them down.

My opponent was the brunette that I had seen with Nagini earlier today; she greeted me with a nervous look.

"So you're, like, my opponent?"

"Umm... yeah..."

"Like, my name's Caroline? And you're, like, Kilany?"

"Kigali" I snapped unenthusiastically.

"Ok, like, whatever, but your spirit totally don't have a chance against, like, my spirit?" she said, or rather, questioned. Caroline was an uptalker; even her declarative statements came out as questions.

"Ok, whatever." I replied as Zoe moved to the middle of our arena. Caroline looked at her edgily and clapped her hand three times. A blue light materialized a few yards away from Zoe, and then turned into a beautiful mermaid with blue hair and lilac eyes. She looked at Zoe and tilted her head, studying her. Zoe did the same.

"You may start fighting at my whistle!" yelled Tabitha from across the arena. She then put two fingers between her teeth and blew hard, creating a thrill whistle loud enough for the whole field to hear.

Zoe didn't wait for air-headed Caroline to make the first move; she shot up into the air and dived at the mermaid, teeth bared. The mermaid was startled by Zoe's sudden movement and froze in place, as confused as her shaman partner. Zoe tackled the mermaid full force, which flew backwards, hitting the ground with a dull thud. But she wasn't going to lose easily, she sat up and a trident appeared in her hand. Her eyes glowed violet-blue, and a kind of white lightning blazed out of the trident and missed Zoe by about an inch. It hit the floor with a loud cackle and there was suddenly a mountain of ice where it had hit.

"Zoe!" I screamed at her.

"What?" she replied, her voice an octave higher.

"Use Mist! Decrease her vision!" Zoe smiled and spread her wings. Her body glowed white and a thick fog enveloped our arena as well as some neighboring ones.

"Zoe! Go into your human shape! It'll be easier to beat her!" I felt Zoe's now-familiar aura change slightly into a human one. The fog lit up with flashes of the mermaid's ice-lightning attacks. I heard Zoe move. I heard her breathe. I heard her dodge. I suddenly knew what to do. I closed my eyes and concentrated in Zoe's aura, images started flashing in front of my eyes, even though they were closed. Dodge.... Flash of lightning... Ice mass in front of me, by me, and behind me... Then it came to me. I was seeing what Zoe was seeing. Our bond had kicked up a notch. I smiled as the images became more fluent, and then I figured out a plan.

"Zoe? Listen!"

"I'm all ears," she panted from inside the haze.

"Make a mirror out of Ice! Make it shine to reflect the attacks back to the mermaid!"

"I'm on it!" I saw her hands extend in front my vision-line as if they were mine, and begin to glow blue. A pane of ice spread out in front of Zoe, then her hands glowed silver, and a silver coating was added to the ice pane. She kneeled down just as a blow hit the mirror. It worked to perfection. Because the mermaid's attacks were beam-like, they could be reflected. Everything went quiet and my vision went back to normal. I opened my eyes just as Zoe withdrew the mist. The mermaid laid frozen inside a large pile of solid ice, her mouth open in surprise.

Caroline took the loss as I had expected. She ran up to the mermaid, crying, and extended her hand over the ice. Then she turned to Zoe and me in fierce anger and started asking insults.

"Look, you lost, get over it." I turned my back at the enraged Caroline and put my arm around Zoe's shoulders.

"That was a once-in-a-lifetime performance," I hooted happily. "We passed the second test!" She was about to answer when Tabitha sent a series of blue fireworks flying from her index finger. Everyone went silent.

"Please gather around here!" She yelled, when everyone collected she went on, "There should be seven winners, those of you who lost please go back to the Kovu Village and gather your belongings. You did well to make it this far." She waited until the losers, including a sobbing Caroline, left the arena to go on. "Those of you who won, I grant you my congratulations..." Her eyes flickered on Zoe and I for about a second. "We will meet tomorrow in the center of the Kovu Village at sunrise. No later. Be on time. Now go and get a good night's rest. Believe me, you WILL need it." She turned around to talk to one of her helpers. I turned to Zoe, now her usual winged wolf and sighed.

"C'mon Zoe, you've earned your rest, we'll walk back."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

We got back to the village much later than the other girls who had used Oversoul to get back, so we weren't surprised when we saw that most of the tents in the heart of the village had been dismantled. There were now seven left.

"At least we won't have to share our tent with that Nagini psycho!" said Zoe brightly as we headed back to a new tent (we were sure that Nagini would want to keep the old one). I took one of the towels that the village people had set up for us and headed towards the door for a much-needed bath when a raven swooped in, followed by none other than my aunt.

Zoe yelped and backed away a few feet, remembering quite a few unwanted memories. Tabitha shot her a look and a smile flickered across her face, but was gone as soon as it had come. She turned to me and took out a package from a knapsack she was wearing.

"This is for you." I took the package hesitantly, and Zoe climbed on my shoulder, fear forgotten, giving way to curiosity. I opened it carefully, looked inside, and then gasped in delight. Inside was a blue cloak/cape with a pair of dark blue jeans that had distinctive markings on the hem, which matched a beautiful blue headband. Looking closer, I also found two Egyptian-like silver armlets and a silver ring, which had the same pattern as the headband. The cloak had a hood with white fur around it. I looked up at Tabitha uncertainly.

"What? Just because I can't give you unjust treatment in the tests doesn't mean I can't spoil you a bit, after all, I AM your aunt. Besides, the clothes you're wearing now are dirty."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. She smiled.

"Don't forget this." She said as she handed me a fancy pocketknife. It had an ivory handle with markings carved on it by hand. "Might be useful for tomorrow. One more thing, the markings on the ring, the jeans, the knife, and the headband are the markings for the Kovu tribe, so wear them proudly."

She turned around and left the tent. I looked at Zoe, who was in her human form, fingering the armlets with in pure fascination. I laughed.

"C'mon Zoe, let's go take a soak." I undressed and wrapped myself in the towel, then walked out the tent, heading for the hot springs. 'Here in the north', Pilika had told me, 'the water's too cold to take normal baths, and since there's no plumbing, we use hot springs. I heard the Volkan tribe has the best ones because of the active volcanoes in the area'. I looked around, searching for the cabin that led to the hot springs.

"There." Pointed Zoe. I followed her finger. There was a cabin that had several towels hanging from a rail. I started walking towards it when someone grabbed my arm. I whirled around to find a sneering Nagini clutching my bicep.

"What do YOU want?" I snapped at her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be packing?" I jerked my arm out of her hold.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I passed the test. Your little friend was almost too easy to beat, so scram." Nagini paled and backed a few steps.

"What??? YOU beat Caroline???"

"Yes." I answered plainly. Her face went from shocked to angry.

"That's a lie! Caroline was the best shaman in my village after me!" She shrieked.

"Well then, I guess you better watch your step Nagini, who knows? I might beat YOU next." She dismissed my remark with a laugh.

"Dream on! Tomorrow, you go down." She spun around and stomped away, nose in the air. I rolled my eyes at her retreating back and went in the cabin. All thoughts of Nagini were wiped out as I glanced at the hot springs. There were several natural outdoor pools with warm, steaming water. Zoe immediately jumped in the water and shapeshifted into a mermaid that looked very much like her human form. I slipped in the water and sighed.

"Geez! One would think you are an old woman." Zoe said as she grabbed the small bottle of shampoo from a nearby basket.

"Well— its— been— a— long— day!" I said while I tried to grab the shampoo from a hogging Zoe. "Zoe! Give me the..." but I didn't finish because a nearby conversation had caught my attention.

"...Yea, the third test is going to be one of the longest yet!" I looked around to find the speaker and located a green-haired girl and another with navy hair talking nearby. I casually sunk up to my nose in the water.

"Those must be some of the finalists," whispered Zoe. I nodded silently.

"...of course, there will be only two winners in that one. It will narrow it down quite a bit don't you think, Crystal?" the green-haired girl asked her friend.

"We might make it Jade! But it WILL be hard. I heard that it will take place in the Quaff Mountain. It's the highest mountain in the land, but it has so many spirits, that most humans can't even see it!" whispered Crystal so quietly that I had to lean a bit to hear. Jade bit her lip.

"In the Quaff Mountain?" She asked, frowning. "That's sort of dangerous, I wonder what we'll do there..."

"Well, I heard that it will be some sort of quest."

"Oh well, we'll just have to find out tomorrow..." I stopped eavesdropping and turned towards Zoe.

"What do you think?" She asked

"We'll make it." I sighed as I got out of the bath.

We headed back to our tent and I changed into my old clothes, not wanting to ruin the new ones in my sleep. Zoe shape changed into her usual form, except now she was a little winged blue puppy, about the size of a teddy bear. She yawned and dug out the covers of my bed... if you could call it that. It was like a mat on the floor with colorful and patterned covers. I guess that was the tradition here. I shrugged and got in the bed, pushing Zoe in the process, who rolled over and whimpered. I laughed and covered myself with the covers. Zoe curled up against me.

"Hey Zoe?"

"Hm?"

"Tomorrow, wake me up before sunrise so I don't oversleep. Ok?" She snored in response. I closed my eyes and fell into a light sleep.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lady Dragonfly- So that's it for now! Hope you guys enjoyed it! I hope you're not getting too impatient on Kigali's... err... chibiness, but she'll grow! PROMISE!

Chibi Kigali- HEY! I'm NOT chibi!

Lady Dragonfly- If you have some spare time, you can always review my story. Remember: it takes less than a minute of your time and it makes my day!

Zoe- Please get a hobby.

Lady Dragonfly- Tune in next time on...

Everyone- TWILIGHT'S SONG!

Next chapter- The Legend of Quaff Mountain


	7. The Legend of Quaff Mountain

Chapter seven! Thanks you SO much for all of you who have hung with me so far. Your attention is more than I could ever deserve. You guys ROCK! Enjoy the story!

Disclaimer- Shaman King=not mine=someone else's

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**ZOE **

I woke up before dawn at the sounds of voices outside. Huh? Voices? I reluctantly got out of bed and went to the door of our tent. There were several girls standing around the platform. I ran back inside and pounced on my shaman partner's sleeping form. She squealed and pushed me off.

"What do ya want?" she complained, half asleep.

"Third test!" She jumped up immediately.

"Are we late???" she yelped.

"Not yet..." I responded calmly as she put on her new clothes.

"Ok, let's go." She said as she tried to put on her armlets and her headband at the same time. I grabbed the pocketknife and followed obediently. The girls outside seemed to be doing a little skit concerning Tabitha and the platform. I chuckled. "Tabitha" was yelling at everyone to shut up while jumping up and down on the platform. Everyone laughed, but suddenly went silent. The real Tabitha had stepped into the platform and was glaring at the "other Tabitha". She blushed and jumped off the platform. Tabitha shook her head and turned to us.

"Only five of you showed up?" I looked around and counted. Nagini, her black-haired friend, Crystal, Jade, and Kigali. There were two people missing.

"Oh well, the sun's right about up and—"

"WAIT!!!" a duet of voices cried up at the same time. Everyone whirled around to face the two last finalists. Both of them had shoulder length, bright blond hair. The only difference was that one had red highlights in her hair and bright, russet eyes. The other had green highlights and emerald-green eyes.

"They're twins!" Kigali whispered. I nodded; they were identical twins. They blushed under Tabitha's disapproving glare and slipped in by Kigali, smiling at her good-naturedly. Kigali smiled back.

"Hey!" said the one with the green highlights, "My name's Azami, what's yours?" she asked Kigali.

"I'm Kigali," she answered as the twin with red highlights pushed her sister aside to talk to her.

"I'm Ayame, pleased to meet you!" She laughed, "Are you from this village?" Kigali nodded, "Yea, we're from the Nomel Tribe and—"

"Ok people! Shut up a second!" Tabitha yelled cutting Ayame off, who obeyed her grudgingly. "The third test is about to begin, so listen to the instructions." The seven girls went utterly silent in anticipation. Tabitha smiled.

"The third test WILL be a quest, as some of you know." She started, looking at Jade and Crystal. "This quest will take place on Quaff Mountain, as you know, this mountain is extremely dangerous and filled with many different kinds of spirits. Only the strongest survive the climb." She paused. "Some say that the mountain itself is alive, for it won't allow the use of Oversoul or any kind of easy access to the top. You'll have to climb it." Tabitha looked over each one of the finalists.

"The task will be to reach the top of the mountain, where two sacred items have been sited for 500 years in wait of the goddess of water. Of course, only two finalists will grab hold of the items, but you ALSO have to make it back to the bottom of the mountain with them. If someone else takes them from you it will still count. So basically, you've got to climb the mountain, grab the items, and make it back to the village to pass the test. It will be hard and you might die, so if anyone is too scared to go up there feel free to tell me." She waited a moment, looking with interest at the finalists.

"Ok, if no one is interested in renouncing the test, I will go on with the rest of the directions. Quaff Mountain is located at the west, about a day's walk from here, you may not use Oversoul at any time EXEPT if your having a shaman battle, because as you know, the mountain WILL NOT allow it. Fail to obey this rule and you WILL be disqualified. You have to make it back three days from now at noon exactly. You may leave... NOW!" Everyone stood there for about a second, then everyone rushed towards their tents to get ready. Kigali turned towards me.

"Zoe? I think it's time for plan B,"

"Umm... ok, what's plan B?" I asked reluctantly. She smiled a mischievous smile.

**KIGALI **

An hour later we were racing down the freezing tundra on one of the village's fastest dog-sled team. We were held up a bit when we had to sneak into the kennels, but somehow, we made it out without anyone biting our heads off. It was a team of six dogs and their half-wolf leader, the fastest around. Every now and then we passed one of the finalists who were walking to Mount Quaff, but with this team, we were going to get there in a third of the time.

We rode in silence the rest of the way, except when we saw an irritated Nagini trudging through the snow, then we couldn't resist a good laugh. But just the knowledge that we were ahead of Nagini made the test a little bit easier. Zoe soared above me as a bald eagle, skimming the terrain like the shadow of a rain cloud.

"See anything?" I yelled at her over the deafening rush of wind.

"Yeah! Mount Quaff should become visible right about... now." As always, she was right. The snowy tip of Mount Quaff became came into sight just as she said. It was huge.

"How much longer 'till we get there?"

"'Bout an hour," she replied, flying ahead. We rode on into the endless Alaskan plains. I looked up into the sky. It was almost noon. We had traveled all morning non-stop.

"Man, whatever happened to breakfast?" I muttered as my stomach growled. But I knew we couldn't stop until we got to our destination. Even the dogs seemed to know, who were pulling the sled with their endless stamina. I glanced at the mountain only to find myself at its roots. Zoe landed on the sled.

"This is it. It's a no-go for the sled, Key. We'll have to leave it behind."

"Great... what do we do with the sled?"

"Tell the dogs to stay nearby." Zoe said calmly. I looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Talk?"

"Yea."

"To the dogs?

"Uh-huh."

"I can't speak dog!"

"Yea you can! Look, it's easy." She turned into a wolf and spun around to face the team. She yipped at them once; the dogs immediately stood up from their resting places and looked at me expectantly.

"Ok, acquire Winka's spirit. A beautiful gray husky trustingly walked up to me and laid her head on my lap. I put my hand on her head and obtained her spirit, then she quietly walked back to her fellow dogs.

"Ok, now talk to them." ordered Zoe. I looked at the team.

"Umm... Hi everyone..." They tilted their heads and looked at me with confused looks on their faces. Zoe sighed.

"No, not like that. You gotta focus on the animal you wanna talk to, as if you are going to become the animal, but focus on the animal's voice instead." Oh. I turned towards the team once more. I focused on Winka's bark, and then spoke to them.

"Hi..." They pricked up their ears and instantly gave me a large array of answers.

"Hey!"

"What's up"

"Hiya!"

"What's new?" I took a step backwards, laughing nervously.

"Ok, um... team?" They yipped in response.

"I want you to stay in this area until I call you back, and... um... you can't go back to the village yet... Ok...?"

"Sure thing, chief." Replied a black-coated shepherd with a German accent, "We'll stay around here until you howl for us." I untied their harnesses and let them loose while Zoe hid the sled.

"You don't think they'll leave us here, do you?" I asked Zoe suspiciously.

"Are you kidding, nothing's more loyal than a dog!" She laughed, wagging her tail in demonstration. I looked at the Mountain.

"How on earth are we gonna climb this thing?" I asked her.

"Well, we can fly up, because that doesn't require Oversoul." She turned into a huge eagle, "Climb up." I sat lightly on her back. She spread her wings and beat them once, sending a back draft of wind right back at us, granting an easy lift off. In no time at all, we were fifty feet up in the air, flying towards the summit.

"Hey Key?" Zoe inquired.

"What?" I yelled over the rush of wind.

"What's THAT?" I followed her gaze. There was a huge, black cloud enveloping the summit, and crawling rapidly towards us.

"It looks like a—" WHOOSH! A freezing blast of air hit my face with chilling accuracy. I gasped for air and grabbed hold of Zoe's feathers as hard as I could. We were inside the cloud, it was like a black blizzard, I couldn't see anything. It was like freezing smoke, forcing itself inside my lungs, I couldn't breathe! I saw a shadow through the corner of my eye. Something was flying right by us! I yanked on Zoe's feathers once more.

"DIVE!" I chocked. She reacted instantly. I felt fresh air flood my lungs as we broke away from the cloud. We crash-landed about four feet away from a cliff. I breathed deeply, half in relief and half in asphyxiation.

"Tabitha was right. The mountain won't grant easy access to the top." Said Zoe weakly. I remained silent. That thing I had seen on the cloud...

"Key?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Yea, I'm with ya. Well, let's look at it on the bright side. We're probably halfway up the mountain, and on the lead." I stood up and shook the snow off me. Zoe turned into her usual figure and followed me as I started climbing the slippery rock walls of Quaff Mountain. With no ropes and probably seventy feet up in the air.

"Don't look down, now!" Zoe joked.

"I'm not THAT stupid, stupid!" I replied, sneaking a glance below me.

We climbed on for hours nonstop. Sometimes the black cloud appeared above us, threatening like a mother grizzly over her cubs. We knew it was because one of the finalists had made the same mistake that we made. We climbed on. The temperature kept falling to impossible levels, but my shaman capacities kept rising to meet it. Unfortunately, my shaman abilities couldn't make roasted chicken appear out of nowhere, so that afternoon I practically collapsed into a cave we had found by pure dumb luck.

"Man, I'm starving!" I moaned. Zoe nodded in agreement. Zoe was a special kind of spirit, I had learned; humans could see her if she wanted to be seen, she could not go through walls like other spirits, and she could stuff her face as much as I could, even though she didn't actually NEED to eat.

"Ok Zoe, hypothetical question." She twitched her ears in amusement, "Ok, if you were in a freezing mountain, with no food, and you were starving, what would you eat?" I waited patiently while Zoe closed her eyes in deep thought. When Zoe looked like that, a prize-winning answer was usually on its way. She finally opened her eyes and smiled.

"If I ever happened to be in that impossible situation," She played along, "I would go to the heart of the mountain." I looked at her eagerly, wanting to hear more, but she just looked at me and tossed back my question. "What would YOU do?"

"I'd eat roots," I said.

"Caves don't have a lot of roots. Besides, half of them are poisonous and would give you hallucinations for weeks. My solution, is in the ground."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, the only people who survive are those who can eat the grubs that live in the cave mud, if you can eat that, you can survive anywhere. It's a valuable skill. Could YOU eat a grub?" She asked sneakily. It was a trick question.

"Sure," I said. "What are they?"

"Larvae." Zoe reached out and swiped her paw across the ground, leaving a foot-deep gash in the freezing ground. I felt my stomach roll, then twist as I peered in the hole. There were several white, tiny worms squirming in the soil.

"Oh! Gross!" I covered my mouth with my hands, as though Zoe were going to force-feed them to me. "They're pukey!"

"Not when you have the spirit of the wolf inside you and are hungry, besides, you'd get lost and starve to death if you can't eat grubs. Believe me, when you have this skill, you're going to survive when everyone is going hungry while pining away for hamburgers and chocolate shakes." I shivered in repulsion, but I couldn't deny it. Zoe was right.

"Ok... give me one." I said hesitantly. Zoe nosed one to the edge of the hole.

"Take it." She ordered me. Slowly, I grasped the grub between my fingers. I looked at Zoe and whimpered.

"Do it!" She encouraged. I popped the grub into my mouth. At first, I thought my stomach was going to fly out of me, but then I bit down on it and swallowed it swiftly. It had a sweet sort of taste. In a sick sort of way. I stuck out my tongue and cupped my hands. Water immediately swelled up there.

"Good thing about being the goddess of water; you'll never lack water." Zoe said good-naturedly as I hurriedly drank. "That was excellent, Key, I knew you could do it. How do you feel?"

"Well, I'm not hungry anymore."

"Too bad, because I figured out another answer to your little question." She said nervously.

"WHAT!!!!!!!!????????" I screamed.

"Well, you didn't eat the grub for NOTHING." She replied, reading my mind. "Think of all the skills you gained." I let the subject go.

"So, what're we eating?" I asked instead, dreading the answer.

"Don't worry, it's not bad. Follow me." We walked deeper into the cave.

The cave became darker, but light still came through some cracks high up in the roof. The path curved and opened up into a huge chamber. Through its middle, a small lake started, which connected into a stream that followed a tunnel deeper into the mountain.

"Great. What now?" I turned to Zoe. She smiled.

"You're gonna love this." She walked into the lake. The water went up to her canine ankles. She wagged her tail, giving me confidence. I took of my tennis shoes and followed her into the lake. The water was cold but not frozen.

"Hey, slow down!" I called after Zoe, who was already walking into the stream.

"Come on!" She called back. I went after her into the stream and out of the chamber. The tunnel was uncomfortably narrow. Zoe must have heard me grumbling, because she turned around and waited for me.

"Don't worry! Passages of caves never stay narrow for long." She skipped ahead a few feet. She was right, after a few minutes of walking we trekked into a wider expanse. The stream was ten to fifteen feet wide here, and flowed around mounds of massive white-and-yellow stalagmites. As Zoe walked ahead, I became aware of the stream bottom softening; my feet sinking deeper the further they went. I glanced down at the water for a moment, and when I looked up, Zoe had gone around the bend. My heart began to race.

"Ok, Keep calm." I said, completely aware that I was talking to myself. I hurried my pace, trying to catch up to Zoe. The water was up to my knees now. I plodded straight through the bottom mud. With each step, ooze slipped between my toes.

"Zoe! Wait— AHH!" I ended the sentence with a scream. Before I knew it, I was sitting waist deep in the stream, my left foot doubled up beneath me. Zoe came rushing back.

"What's the matter?"

"My right foot's stuck!"

"The mud's thick here..." she mused.

"AHHH!"

"What!?"

"Something's moving on top of my leg!" Zoe nosed my leg under the water.

"Feels like a rotting log or something..."

"PULL IT OFF!" I yelled in exasperation.

"I'm coming..."

"Hurry up—" Zoe suddenly plunged headfirst into the water, soaking me completely in freezing water. She was struggling with something under the water, splashing frantically, but she eventually surfaced, holding the "log" in her mouth. She smiled and shook herself.

"What IS that?" I asked, pointing at the object in Zoe's mouth. She dropped it in the water, where it floated lazily at my feet.

"Giant catfish." She replied. "AKA, our dinner." I shrugged uncomfortably.

"Better than grubs."

We made it back to the chamber where the lake was. It was already nighttime, so we decided to camp for a few hours to eat and get some rest.

"Are we leaving tomorrow morning?" I asked Zoe as I gutted the catfish with my pocketknife.

"No, I was thinking we should leave in a couple of hours. It'll reduce the risk of having Nagini catching up to us." She added quickly after she saw my face. But she had hit a nerve.

"Yea, good idea." I took off my clothing and set it aside to dry. I shivered. "Isn't there any way to make a fire?" I asked Zoe.

"Nope. No flammable stuff here, besides, the soil is too moist." I gave Zoe part of the catfish, but she refused it.

"You eat it. I can live without it." I wondered if she meant that in more ways than one, but ate the catfish with no complaints. After I forced the rest of it down my throat, I laid down, using Zoe as a pillow. I could see the stars through one of the cracks in the roof. They reminded me of that boy. I fingered my earrings and fell asleep with stars and snowflakes dancing in my head. Tomorrow would be no better or worse than today.

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That's chapter seven! Yay! I hope the story's not boring you guys. Kigali will grow soon... SOON! Hang with me!

Review if you have time!

Lady Dragonfly

Next Chapter- The Second Day


	8. The Second Day

Chapter eight! Yay!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It's so nice of you ppl!

Anyhow, this is the second day of the third test! Enjoy!

Disclaimer- I don't own Manking ppl, but I own Kigali ppl.

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**Day 2 **

I plummeted out of sleep suddenly the next morning, as Zoe was roughly nosing me awake.

"What is it? It feels like I only slept for a couple of hours..." I whined at her, while rubbing my eyes sleepily. She tossed me my clothes.

"That's because did sleep for two hours. Hurry up! Get changed!"

"What's the big hurry?" I complained again.

"I feel two presences nearby. Some of the finalists might be catching up to us..." That got me out of "bed" in an instant.

"Who is it??? Is it Nagini???" I pressed her.

"I said TWO presences. Nagini usually flies solo, besides, I didn't sense that fox thing nearby." I sighed in relief and put on my now dry jeans.

"Ok, I'm ready. Let's scram." I dragged Zoe out of the cave in attempt of extending the distance between me and the other finalists. We broke into a slippery struggle up the mountain, but after twenty minutes we were worn out.

"The problem is," I panted, "that YOU don't let me sleep any."

"You sleep too much, THAT'S the real problem." She panted back.

"Oh yeah, look who's talking! You're the one who..." I trailed off as I noticed something peculiar in the white, mountainous landscape. There was a single, leaf-less tree standing by itself. It just didn't fit. Zoe looked over her shoulder, following my gaze.

"What the...?" She said, tilting her head in confusion.

"WOW!" I exclaimed, amused at the prospect of a tree growing near the summit of a mountain. I ran up to it and put my hand in its trunk.

"KEY! Don't do that! It might be a trap, you know!" Zoe warned me. I scoffed.

"Yeah, sure. Since when are trees traps? That's stupi—" I was suddenly hanging from one of the top branches of the tree from my ankle. It was one of those rope-loop traps. Zoe sighed. I crossed my arms. "When will you stop being right?"

"AHA! WE CAUGHT SOMEONE!" Zoe whirled around and I followed suit with some difficulty. An upside-down blur of green and red met my eyes.

"It's Ayame and Azami!" Whispered Zoe.

"Wait! Hey look sis! It's Kigali! Should we cut her loose?" Asked who I suspected was Azami.

"No, wait. If we cut her loose, she might get the items before us!" Answered Ayame.

"Kigali's our friend though..."

"I know, but we gotta pass the test!"

"But..." I zoned out on the twin's bickering and focused on Zoe, who was whispering something to me.

"...the pocketknife!" OH YEAH! I had completely forgotten! I reached inside the small bag I carried the knife in and brought it out triumphantly. I did a sort of upside-down sit-up and grabbed the rope that held my ankle with a quick look at the twins. They hadn't noticed, they were still quarrelling, oblivious to everything else. It took one swipe of the knife to cut the rope. I fell with a cat-like flip on a crouching position. That's when they noticed me.

"She got out!"

"Told'ya we should've used a stronger rope!" Zoe came to my side, growling.

"Fine, so you got out, but we won't let you through. Let's put our friendship on hold, because we challenge you to a shaman fight!" Ayame confronted me.

"I accept!" I called back, entirely aware that I had never integrated with Zoe. Ayame and Azami took out their memorial tablets and summoned their spirits. I held my breath as two huge forms materialized behind them, soon taking the shape of a russet-furred Mammoth and a emerald-eyed Saber-tooth. They immediately started integrating.

"They're doing Spirit Unity." Zoe informed me. I looked at her and curled my hands into fists.

"Let's do it!" I held my hand up above my head and yelled, "Spirit Unity!" Zoe's shape dissolved and became a cloud of blue aura. The cloud positioned itself behind me and became a blurry shadow of a massive wolf. It howled deep, nose turned up towards the sky, and then it became a cloud of aura again, which enveloped me and combined with my body.

I immediately felt the changes begin. A fluffy, light blue tail with deeper blue tiger-like markings sprouted from my tailbone. Two blue wolf ears matching the tail sprung from between my hair. My nails became silver and hardened into razor-sharp claws. My brown and white hair became entirely white, like Zoe's human form. Both of my canines grew a bit to transform into formidable fangs. And finally, two blue-striped angel wings grew out of my back. I opened my eyes, which hadn't changed their crystal-like blue, and twitched an ear in the twin's direction. I felt calm. Zoe was I. I was Zoe. We were one. Our thoughts were the same. Our movements were single. I was as strong as five grizzlies and as fast as cheetah, I had the reflexes of a tiger and the agility of a dolphin. I was seriously powerful.

I turned towards the twins and examined their Oversouls. Ayame was shining in the middle of a ruby colored aura. Her hair had grown up to her waist, and ivory spikes grew out of her elbows, knees, shoulders, and back. Her eyes seemed to be burning. The spirit of the mammoth. Azami was shrouded amidst an emerald aura. Her eyes seemed to shine like jewels, and she had claws to rival mine. She had also grown fangs, but instead of small, yet deadly fangs like mine, she had two lethal sabers that came out of her mouth like her spirit; the spirit of the saber tooth. Two against one. Not good odds. I looked around me. There was a high cliff nearby, and the snow was very slippery. Not helpful.

They both charged at me. Ayame was slow, but Azami came up to me with amazing speed. She was as fast as me, if not faster. I dodged just in time. Azami's claws slashed through the lone tree as though it were a piece of paper. I was not discouraged, I bounced off a boulder and zoomed towards Azami, my claws extended. I caught her unexpected; she went flying towards the tree and crashed down hard. Half of her saber tooth was missing, courtesy of me, and she now had several splinters, courtesy of the tree. Azami's Oversoul broke. She went back to her regular self, with her spirit whimpering behind her.

I turned my attention to Ayame, who had been trying to catch up to her sister the whole time. She frowned at her sister and then at me. Without a word, she got into a stance, and yelled.

"Spike Launch!!!" Huh? Spike launch? My confusion suddenly evaporated as I watched her spikes shoot out of her back, elbows, shoulders, and knees and head straight towards me. "Think fast!" She called out. I froze, not knowing what to do. Horrible images of me ending up as a pincushion flooded my mind. Luckily, that's when the "Zoe" part of me took over. I instinctively jumped up as high as I could, which was HIGH. The spikes missed me completely. I landed just as another round of spikes shot towards me. I jumped up again, but this time, not so high. I gathered all my speed, agility, and reflexes to do the impossible. I landed on a dart-like spike in full movement and bounced off it, gaining enough momentum to not only save myself from turning into a porcupine, but also to bounce straight into Ayame in a full body tackle. She fell backwards and slipped off the cliff with a scream.

"NO!" Azami yelled and swung herself towards the cliff, missing her sister's hand my inches. In the confusion, I felt my wings flutter and saw myself lift off the ground. Adrenaline shot through my veins as I soared over the cliff in a controlled dive. I saw Ayame dropping about fifteen feet below me. My brain instinctively did the calculations for me. She was forty feet away from the ground. More than enough time. I pinned my wings to my back in an aerodynamic fashion, helping gravity down. I caught up to Ayame, grabbed her wrists, and then pulled up into a victorious flare. But instead of slowing down, we kept on dropping. Jeez! She must have weighed a thousand pounds! That didn't make sense. Ayame was small and thin, she had to weight as much as me! Then I realized she still had spikes growing out of her back. I mentally slapped myself, of course! OVERSOUL!

"Ayame!" She whimpered in response, "Ayame! Listen to me!" I repeated over the rush of wind. Twenty feet 'till the ground! "Ayame! Break your Oversoul! NOW!!!!" She swiftly obeyed, liberating one wrist from my grasp and reaching for her memorial tablet. I flapped my wings as hard as I could, it slowed the fall a bit, but we were still falling fast. Ayame called back her spirit into the memorial tablet, and she immediately became 900 pounds lighter. The change of weight caused us to flare upwards with neck breaking speed, just when we were going to crash. I lifted Ayame up to the edge of the cliff and into her sister's anxious arms.

"Ayame!" Azami squealed, giving her a suffocating hug. I separated with Zoe, who wagged her tail and stood by my side in unwavering reliability. I was tired, but not exhausted. Ayame stood up shakily and faced me.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly, "and sorry, for fighting you." She shot a look at her sister, who nodded in agreement, "To tell you the truth, we don't think either one of us is even the true goddess. We were just chosen to come here because we were the strongest shamans our age in the Nomel Village... and besides, it's not worth passing these tests if you've got to fight against our friends." She took my hand in alliance. "We'll try to slow the others down a bit. We wasted enough of your time." She turned to her sister, who stepped up to talk to me.

"If you ever need anything, you'll always be welcome in our village. I hope we see each other soon." She said.

They waved as I started climbing again, this time in a steady pace. I was close to the summit. I could feel it. We climbed on. It was noon of the second day, which was not good. We had been held up too much. I hurried my pace a bit, Zoe noticed and followed suit. We were so close I could see the summit! Almost there... ten more feet... seven more... five...

"Kigali!" The yell echoed across the mountain. I turned my head to look at the source of the voice. Nagini stood at the bottom of the cliff I was climbing, pointing a threatening finger at Zoe and me. I ignored her and kept climbing.

"KIGALI!" She yelled again, this time louder, "Don't take another step! You are NOT going to pass this test! I won't let you!"

"Oh yea? Well, just try!" I called out behind me while scrambling up the side of the cliff. The summit was relatively flat, there was a huge house made out of wood, which was covered in snow. Zoe was already up and in her human form, looking over the edge at Nagini.

"She's on the move!" I looked backwards to see Nagini climbing slowly up the cliff.

"We have time! Let's go!" I grabbed her arm and we broke into a rapid run to the cabin. I reached for the handle and pulled hard. The door slowly creaked open and a blinding flash of light escaped through. We were stunned for a few moments, with sunspots in front of our eyes for a few seconds, and when our visibility returned, we were received into the lodge by a breathtaking sight. The only word to describe it was 'paradise'.

There was a wood entrance, but after that everything was... natural. The blinding flash of light had come from the roof... if there had been one. It was a gaping hole opening into the sky. The clouds parted right above the house, making the sun come down in the scenery with all its dazzling beauty. It lit up the snow-covered field, which had a stream running through it, it lit up the glittering crystal dome at the center of the field.

"It must be in there." Said Zoe, pointing at the dome. I took a step towards it when a red blaze flashed past me, going towards the dome. Nagini.

"No!" I darted after her, Zoe at my heels. But we were too late. With a mocking grin, Nagini entered the dome. _Entered?_ I touched its surface, and my hand slipped through! It was a bubble! It flashed rainbow-colors as I went inside. As soon as I entered, my hair floated up as pure energy went through my body. The dome was about the size of a small cabin, and in the middle was a stand lit up in mystical aura. Nagini was standing above it. She turned around and I saw that she was holding something. It was a sort of book. She smirked.

"I already have MY item, now I'll head back to the village to pass the test." I picked up voices outside the dome. The other finalists! Nagini heard them too. She tossed her hair, "Let's hope someone grabs the other one before YOU!" With that, she exited the dome with a running start, clutching the book in her arms. I walked towards the stand and looked at the remaining item. It was a silver orb about the size of a tennis ball. I didn't see anything outstanding about it.

"Aww man! How come Nagini gets the good one!?"

"Hurry up Key!" Urged Zoe, "They're coming!" I reached for the orb, but hesitated before taking it. If I grabbed the orb, the hunt would be on. The remaining finalists would be on my trail, trying to take the item from me. At any cost.

"Key!" I sighed, snatched the orb from its resting place, and like Nagini, took a running start out of the dome. It was lucky I did too. Because I had come out so unexpectedly, the other finalists were surprised into a pause, giving me enough time to dash out the door after Nagini. Of course. They hadn't known there was someone else in the dome. They would have to gather themselves to come after me. I smiled despite myself. I whirled on Zoe.

"Zoe! We need a fast way down, got anything?" She grinned and turned into a... a...

"A GIANT PENGUIN?" I asked disbelieving. She chirped.

"Hey! Don't underestimate the bird! This thing is the fastest thing on the snow! So get on and let's move out." I followed her orders skeptically. Of course the skeptical part vanished as soon as she pushed off a rock. We balanced for a moment on the edge of a steep hill, halfway on the snow and halfway suspended in thin air, then gravity took over and we tipped towards the slope. After Zoe's belly came into contact with the snow, we jolted into a slide that would have made the cheetah look like a snail. It was so fast that my eyes started watering.

We flew off cliffs, landing on soft snow without losing any of our momentum. I held on for dear life to Zoe's sleek body, which was hard to do because I was still holding the silver orb. The ride was smooth and effortless, like a roller coaster that didn't need the uphill pull to go full speed the rest of the way. It was crazy! I felt my stomach jump and flip as we flew down the mountain, at times in zero gravity. I laughed out, but the wind caught my laugh. We were traveling faster than the wind! Not even the cloud could catch us now! I whooped in pure exhilaration.

We made it down the full length of the mountain in ten minutes tops. It usually took at least half a day to go down on foot. We had beaten a record! We soared off one last slope as we reached the foot of the mountain, where Zoe's torpedo-like penguin form slowly came to a stop. I jumped off, but found myself on the ground, with colors flying in front of my eyes. I was dizzy with the rush of adrenaline. I slowly stood up, supported by Zoe, now in her regular blue-winged-wolf. I looked at her from behind a curtain of messy hair.

"Remind me never to underestimate a penguin." She laughed, wagging her tail hard. Apparently, she had enjoyed our ride as much as I had. I organized my hair and turned my attention to the matters at hand. Even if we were ahead of the finalists, we didn't know if Nagini had found a fast way down the mountain and to the village, like us. Zoe trotted up to a large pile of snow and started digging in, uncovering the dog sled we had hidden the first day of the test.

I closed my eyes and focused my mind on a husky's furry body, and then on its voice. I cupped my hands around my mouth and bayed a wolf-like howl into the cold twilight. I only had to wait a minute, when the leader of the team busted out of the thin vegetation, followed by serene Winka and her shepherd friend. They crowded around me, wagging their tails and licking my hands in greeting. Soon, all seven dogs had arrived and were strapped on to their harnesses. I swished the rains, and they immediately pulled the sled into a steady glide.

"Not a fast as a penguin eh?" bragged Zoe next to my ear, hidden in my hood as a tiny snow mouse.

"Speedy enough. Much faster than walking anyways." Snow started to fall, soon to become a mild blizzard. The dogs ran on. After about four hours, the first rooftops of the village came into view. The blizzard was now a fierce snowstorm, making it hard for the dogs to pull me. I jumped off the sled and grabbed the reins of the leader, who was being blown off course. With much struggle, I led them towards the village, one hand on the leash, and the other in front of my face, trying to divert the cutting wind. I staggered into the kennels, to be received by a rather nervous man, whom I suspected had been freaking out about the dogs since I had left. I handed the leader's leash to him.

"Sorry 'bout that!" I called out behind me as I ran as fast as I could towards the center of the village. It was then that I realized that Tabitha didn't expect us back until tomorrow noon, and that I didn't know where her cabin was. I bit my lip and looked around for a victim to interrogate. I saw an old lady with waist-long white hair walking out of a cabin. I ran up to her and jumped in front of her in a hyper sort of way.

"Excuse-me-do-you-know-where-Tabitha-lives?????!!!!!" I asked her rapidly. Poor lady. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack, but she managed to point me towards the house.

"I has a porch with a white blanket with blue markings hanging from the railing and blue shutters in its windows. It's in the west edge of the village." She said after she recovered, with a slight amused look.

"Thank-you-lady-appreciate-it!!!!!!!!!!!!" I said as I dashed past her. I ran past dozens of cabins, bumping into more than one person. I was barely looking where I was going, worrying instead on the possibilities of Nagini having gotten here before me. Luckily, I had Zoe.

"Wait Key! We missed it!" I screeched to a halt and turned around. She was right. There stood a house with a small porch and blue shutters on the windows. I broke into a run again, barreling into the cabin, letting in a pile of snow in the process. Tabitha, who had been reading a letter by the fireplace, jumped up in alarm. She hadn't expected anyone for a day.

"I did it! I have the item!" I ran up to her, waving the orb in front of her.

"You have it? Already?" A shadow of a smile flickered in her face. "It seems you have beaten a record. You are the first one to arrive. Of course, you passed the test and—" The door crash open, this time bringing a snow-covered Nagini.

"YOU!" She said, pointing a finger. I rolled my eyes.

"I got here before you. I guess now we know who's better." I smirked. She practically exploded, but Tabitha stepped up in front of her.

"Did you get the item?" She held out the book, looking at me with annoyance. I made a face behind Tabitha's back.

"Very well, I think we have our winners. The others should be back tomorrow. Go to your tents and rest a bit. We will be meeting in the platform at noon tomorrow." We filed out of Tabitha's now-messy cabin. The door closed behind us. Nagini scoffed, flipped her hair, and stomped away, seemingly offended. Zoe growled after her.

"C'mon Zoe." We walked quickly to our tent. As soon we entered the tent, I undressed and put on my old, but dry, clothes. I lay down and as soon as my head touched the pillow, I was asleep.

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That's the end of the third test. Next chapter, we'll be learning more about Kigali's legendary item! Stay tuned!

Next Chapter- The Nevermeltice


	9. The Nevermeltice

The ninth chapter of Twilight's Song here! Awesome! Thanx to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it so much, especially 'cause this is my first fic. LoL. Ok, enjoy!

Disclaimer- Not mine. No es mio. Nao pertenece a mi.

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**ZOE **

I spent most of the night awake, watching the tent. I had a feeling Nagini wouldn't take her loss easily. I was right, of course. At three in the morning, she tiptoed to our tent, but stopped at the entrance. She must have sensed me awake, because then, she turned around and walked quickly away. I stayed up after that too, in case she decided to come back, but she didn't.

I was particularly glad when dawn came. The rays of the sun hit Kigali through the door flap full force, but she didn't stir. Yesterday had worn her out. Integrating for the first time wasn't easy. Normally, I would've jumped on her as soon as the sun appeared over the horizon, but today, I thought I would let it slide. I lay down next to her and stared at the silver orb.

Supposedly, it was one of the two legendary items of the goddess of water and ice, but somehow, I didn't remember them. In fact, I didn't remember many things. I was the reincarnation of the spirit of water and ice...

"Why can't I remember these things?" I said, frustrated at myself.

"Because, you are a reincarnation, not a resurrection." I looked at Kigali. She was awake; her arms behind her neck, staring at the tent ceiling.

"How do you—"

"Know? That lady told me in my dream before she called you." She propped herself on her elbow, joining me on my staring contest with the silver orb.

"So... what does it do?" She asked, voicing the question I had been asking myself.

"I have NO idea."

"It looks pretty useless."

"Yup." She got out of bed and got dressed in her new clothes, then grabbed the orb and put it inside a small drawstring bag. She tied it around one of her jeans belt holder loops.

We left the tent in search of some breakfast, but finding none, we just walked around the village. It was very beautiful. Children played outside in clothes familiar to Kigali's (Her were prettier though), women sat outside on their porches, knitting, or making baskets, men talked and laughed in groups. Most of the population in the village had no spirits, but could see them just as well as Kigali, so I received much attention. We stopped by the kennels and petted Winka for a while, but we were mostly wasting time until noon.

When noon DID come, we had already been slumming around the platform for around an hour. The first to arrive was Crystal and Jade, followed closely by Nagini and her black-haired friend. Ayame and Azami didn't show up at all. I suspected they had left directly to their village. Tabitha had shown up last, as usual. She summoned Kigali and Nagini to stand by her on the platform.

"I am sure you all know that Kigali and Nagini are our winners, but I must say, that ALL of you surpassed by expectations. The Kovu Village invites you to lunch in out dining hall to show we are grateful to your coming." She led Kigali and Nagini out of the center of the village, followed by the other ex-finalists. I rested on Kigali's shoulder in Blue Jay form as we entered a large building. As soon as we walked inside, our mouths practically started to waterfall. There was a huge table piled three feet high with food of all kinds. Plates, dishes, platters, and bowls stacked high. And it was all for us. Everyone mobbed the table, stacking their plates to their maximum capacity before sitting down. Of course I went to human form and grabbed a plate for myself, which was so full that I could barely carry it. No one recognized me as a spirit, of course, since spirits 'can't eat'. Yeah right. Maybe I didn't NEED to, but I sure as heck did.

"Catfish?" Tabitha asked Kigali politely, holding out a platter of catfish casserole. Kigali grabbed her stomach unconsciously.

"Uh, no thanks, I think I'm uh... allergic, yea!" I giggled at her excuse.

"What about you ZOE?" She asked me, emphasizing my name.

"Uh... allergy is contagious?" I tried. She rolled her eyes. Kigali laughed. When everyone had finished eating, Tabitha stood up to announce something. Everyone went silent.

"I just want to say that all of you are extremely skilled to have come this far, and you should be proud of yourselves. You may leave when you want to, so go and pack. Not you Nagini, or you Kigali. You stay here, I have to speak with you." She waited until the rest of the finalists had cleared out to address us. "You have passed the test excellently." She said to us when they were gone. "I couldn't have done it better myself. Now, as for your fourth test, you will be having a shaman fight. You may use the items you've taken from Quaff mountain to aid you. Before the fourth test, I will give you three days to rest up and figure out your items, I will be available in my cabin if you need help on them."

"Fat chance." Bragged Nagini. "I know all about MY item. I think Kigali here needs some help though. She probably had no idea what her item IS." She laughed maliciously. Kigali blushed, but Tabitha decided to ignore her remark.

"We will meet in three days at dawn in the platform. Be sure to gather your Furyoku. Now I dismiss you." We left the cabin. I was so full that Kigali had to carry me back to the tent.

"You're such a pig! You must've eaten three times as much as me!" She Laughed. I smiled lazily. She was right; my stomach bulged to an abnormal size. We hung around the tent for an hour, out of lack of anything better to do, and then we decided to go see Tabitha like she had suggested.

We walked towards her cabin and found her sitting on her porch, reading something that looked suspiciously like a _seventeen _magazine. When she saw us approaching, she put the magazine down and smiled as if she knew we would come.

"Well, well. If it isn't my niece... AND her spirit." I walked shyly behind Kigali as an elegant greyhound. Kigali sat down on the floor next to Tabitha and took out the silver orb.

"We came to ask you about this thing. It just stands there and won't do anything!" She handed the orb to Tabitha. She polished the orb with a handful of shirt.

"I'm glad you came to me Kigali. That idiot Nagini won't know what to do with her item when time comes." Kigali looked at her curiously, "What? I can't say that in FRONT of her, but what I do when she's gone is none of her concern. Besides, I used to know Nagini's mother. I still regret meeting her." She laughed a dog-like laugh, "But of course, you would know all about that now wouldn't you?" Kigali blushed. Tabitha laughed and played with the orb a bit.

"So... what does it do again...?" Kigali asked, snapping Tabitha out of her daydream.

"Oh, right. Sorry, but I can't work it." She handed the orb back to Kigali, whose mouth had dropped open in disbelief. "Only the real goddess can control her items, so it won't obey me, but I WILL teach you how to use it... wacha think kiddo?" Kigali nodded her head eagerly, "Ok, to start off, you're gonna give yourself a little demonstration. Ready?" Kigali nodded again. I sat down by her for a better look at the orb.

"Ok, first close your eyes. NO PEEKING. You can open yours Zoe. Right. Now, imagine the weapon of your dreams. Imagine every detail. Concentrate." I stared in fascination as the no-longer-silver orb began to glow a soothing blue. Tabitha grinned in satisfaction. I gawked in disbelief as the orb began to change shape right before my eyes. Its usual round form elongated to form a beautiful sword. A heavy blade. It had a breathtaking silver razor blade and a white handle, made of ivory I presumed.

"Excellent!" praised Tabitha. Kigali opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the sword on her lap.

"WOW! Is THIS the orb?"

"Yup!" said Tabitha proudly, "It's called the Nevermeltice. It's a shape-shifting weapon. Whatever the master imagines, it becomes."

"What's it made of?" I asked, staring in awe as Kigali swished it around.

"It's made of a very special and rare metal called Citta'gazze. No one knows about it except the northern tribes, and no one was ever able to get to it except the goddess herself. She made that weapon with her own hands."

"Why is no one able to get to it?" Asked Kigali.

"Well, you see, Citta'gazze is a metal that's found in the underground caves of the coldest zones in the north. The Caves of Fenris. It's a whole maze down there. People have tried to get it, sure, but none came out alive. It's so cold, that not even the best shamans can survive there for more than two days. Been there myself." She said grimly, but then her face relaxed as she spoke more about the Nevermeltice.

"That's one special weapon, Key. There are three in all, made of SIMILAR materials. Not alike. There's one for the goddesses of water, air, and earth. All three of those weapons are made of unreachable materials, like the one belonging to the earth goddess is made out of a stone that's found near the core of the earth. The one belonging to the air goddess is made of an enchanted cloud. No it's not fluffy, it was charmed to be harder than any metal. Except Citta'gazze, of course."

"Which weapon is stronger?" I inquired Tabitha.

"They were made so that they would be even. So they have exactly the same amount of power and endurance, and they can all shapeshift like yours, but since you can shapeshift as well, I think you'll have more of a talent with it." Kigali smiled happily. I wagged my tail.

"What about the book?"

"Ah, I can't tell you about that. Rules you know? You'll have to find out yourself in the shaman fight." She sighed apologetically, "But If you practice shapeshifting it, soon you'll be able to make it change colors, appearance, and even materials!" Kigali was fingering the blade.

"Hey Tabitha?"

"Hmm?"

"What does this say?" She was carefully touching the flat side of the sword. In closer inspection, I saw that there was something engraved on it.

"_Alis Volat Propriis._" She read out loud. Tabitha smiled.

"That's the motto that the goddess always used. It means; 'She flies with her own wings'. It suited her too." She looked at the setting sun, then at us. "You should go for a dip. The springs will be extra warm today." As we stood up to leave, Kigali turned to Tabitha.

"Will I be able to keep this?" She asked, holding out the Nevermeltice. Tabitha thought for a bit.

"I can't promise you that. The rules are that whoever turns out to be the Goddess of Water and Ice, gets the other finalist's sacred item. So, in that case, I think you WILL be able to keep it." She smiled warmly. "Now go. And remember to practice!" She called out after us.

**TABITHA **

As soon as Kigali and her spirit walked out of sight, I called upon Typhoon, my raven spirit.

"Typhoon?" She came to my shoulder, standing at attention.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Who is currently watching over Kigali?" I asked, looking at the deepening twilight.

"That would be Tundra, the spirit wolf. I must say that she has taken an immediate liking to your niece."

"Who wouldn't? And besides, Tundra WAS originally my sister's, but I'm glad she joined us when Tala died. Now that I think of it, Tundra was the first one that sensed Kigali nearby, and then she tricked Zoe into coming to me."

"She was present when Kigali was born."

"And she also helped me care for her before her father stole her." I spit these last words out. Kigali's father wasn't very popular around the village. Tala had been loved around these parts, and he had been blamed for her demise. Of course Kigali took after her mother and had nothing of her father. Luckily.

"Too bad Kigali doesn't remember her time here, in the village."

"She was young." I said simply, but then added. "Well, it DOES sting a bit that she doesn't remember that I took care of her for a year after Tala died, but I didn't really do anything to help her remember yet."

"Yes. She will eventually remember and come to love this village as Mistress Tala once had." I nodded silently.

"Typhoon?"

"Yes?"

"I want you to deliver a message for me. Three messages in fact."

"I'm listening."

"The message is: Winter is here. That's all."

"And to whom do I deliver the message to?"

"Deliver the message... to Lanai of the Leppa Tribe, Riana of the Orana Tribe, and Silva of the Patch Tribe. I expect an answer from each of them." She looked at me curiously for a moment and then took off without a word. I looked at the sky. The moon had come out. It was a beautiful crescent moon with a dazzling star in its center. Today we were supposed to have a new moon. I had expected that. The beast of the snows was keeping close to the village. I'd have to keep an eye on it.

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I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry Kigali's slow to grow up, but once she does, the story really starts. We need to start from the beginning to get the end, lol. Hang with me!

Next Chapter- The Beast of the Snows


	10. The Beast of the Snows

Yay! Ok, here's chapter 10! Thanx to Nakashima-Michiyo and wingweaver22 who review my chapters! Your support is unbelievable! You guys rock!

Oh, and yeah, Kigali and Hao WILL meet again, since their connection plays a major roll in this story (hint hint hint) lol, enjoy!

Disclaimer- I don't own Shaman king or Norah Jones. But I DO own both of her CD's!

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**ZOE **

We spent most of the next three days sitting on Kigali's bed, playing with the Nevermeltice. She had gotten very good at it. She could make any weapon with a single thought, and now she could control its material, color, and decoration. Even as I sat there for hours on end, she never failed to impress me. Sword... axe... knife... staff... spiked club... bow and arrow... shield... chain... scythe... nameless weapons appeared in her hand.

"Can you make anything else besides weapons?" she concentrated and an Egyptian armlet appeared in her hands.

"What do you think Zoe? Pretty cool, huh? I can put it on and carry it around like that." I smiled.

"What else can you make?" She squinted in focus as a beautiful electric guitar appeared in her lap. It was just small enough for her to play it.

"Isn't it awesome? It runs on Furyoku, so you don't need to plug it in!" I gave her THE look. "No. I will NOT waste Furyoku. It runs on a minimal amount." She rolled her eyes.

"Can you play?" She nodded.

"Yeah. One of the scholars in the college taught me." She played a short tune on it. I flicked my tail in tempo. She laughed.

"You're really good! Sing something!" I urged. She blushed and shook her head rapidly. "C'mon! It's only you and me! No need to be shy with your own spirit..." I gave her the puppy eyes. She laughed.

"Ok, but I may not be good. It's been a while since I sang. Umm... do you know Norah Jones?" I shook my head. "Oh, well, you wouldn't, but I'll get you the CD someday. This is one of my favorite songs by her; it's called Come Away With Me. I don't know how to play it with the guitar yet; I only know how to sing it. You'll like it." She took a deep breath and started to sing in a clear, melodious voice.

_Come away with me in the night  
Come away with me  
And I will write you a song  
  
Come away with me on a bus  
Come away where they can't tempt us  
With their lies..._

It was one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. And I'm not saying that because she's my shaman partner. Her voice was like the ocean, soul-searching and soft, rising and falling like the tide. She harmonized with the wind. Her voice danced like fire.

_I want to walk with you  
On a cloudy day  
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high  
So won't you try to come  
  
Come away with me and we'll kiss  
On a mountaintop  
Come away with me  
And I'll never stop loving you...  
_

Kigali closed her eyes as she turned her full attention to her song. The song rang as clear as crystal through the chilly northern air. She seemed to shimmer as she let the consonants and vowels flow smoothly out of her mouth, then I realized that she WAS glowing. Her aura was sparkling around her like a blue flame as her essence streamed with the ancient power of nature.

_And I want to wake up with the rain  
Falling on a tin roof  
While I'm safe there in your arms  
So all I ask is for you  
To come away with me in the night  
Come away... with me..._

She opened her eyes and her aura shimmered back off. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Wow..." She blushed. "That was stunning! Where did you learn how to sing like th—" Suddenly, there was a tremor on the ground, it started to shake uncontrollably, the whole tent was swaying. I immediately took to the air to avoid the tremors.

"E-e-e-e-a-r-t-h q-u-a-k-e!!!!!!!!!" Stammered Kigali. The ground was rumbling. There were screams as people were taken by surprise. I lifted Kigali by the hood of her cloak. She hung around limply for a while, dizzy from the shaking. After a couple of minutes, the earthquake stopped. Everything went back to normal as the silence after the quake was replaced by exited chattering nearby our tent. I put Kigali down on her bed. She recovered almost immediately, eager to find out more about the quake. She picked up her Nevermeltice, which instantly wrapped around her wrist as a silver bracelet. I climbed up on her shoulder as a peregrine falcon while she exited the tent.

There was a large crowd lining a path between several cottages, as if waiting for a parade. I caught sight of Nagini's black haired friend and pointed her out to Kigali, who walked up to the other girl.

"Hi Kigali!" The girl greeted enthusiastically, obviously forgetting that she had laughed at us with Nagini and Caroline just a few days ago. Or maybe she was the kind of fake friend that sticked to whomever was strongest, and since Kigali was now head-to-head with Nagini, she was keeping close for a bite of the glory. "I'm so glad you got here! I was packing and was wondering if I would see you before I left! Maybe you could be on my team for the Shaman Tournament!" Yeah, definetly the second option.

"Uh... what's your name again?" Kigali replied, kicking her enthusiasm level down a notch.

"Oh! My name's Sophia, remember?" No. They barely even talked. Kigali must have read my mind, because she shrugged her shoulder casually, almost making me fall. I steadied myself and sulked on her shoulder, looking every now and then at Sophia.

"Eh... sure, whatever. So, what happened?"

"I don't know! I was just sitting there, packing, when the earthquake came, and then my tent fell on someone and I had to pull it off them with my bare hands!!! And then I..." Kigali rolled her eyes and slipped away as some more people came to laugh at Sophia's exaggerations. We tuned into a few conversations as we squeezed by people as we neared the edge of the crowd for a better view

"Yea! You haven't heard? It wasn't an earthquake after all!"

"What was it??? It almost gave me a heart attack!"

"They say it was Quaff Mountain! It was a huge avalanche!"

Kigali and I exchanged looks at that comment, and then another one as we saw what was going on in the path. Tabitha was quickly walking towards the crowd on the path running between the cabins, followed by a couple of other important people. No wonder the crowd was keeping clear off the path. Tabitha was in a temper, there were practically sparks flying off her. She glared at the crowd, and then at the two people following her, who cowered back in fear for their personal safety.

"Where IS he!" one of the followers muttered something rapidly. "NO! This is important! Bring him here! NOW!" Just then, a man came out of the crowd. I could see that he was not from the village. He had the type of clothes a rich tourist would wear on a ski trip or something. He was being held up by held up by two other people from our tribe. Everyone went silent as Tabitha stomped over to the man.

"Where were you?" Asked Tabitha with forced calmness. The man stuttered but didn't answer, obviously intimidated by her. She answered for him. "You were in Quaff Mountain weren't you?" Everyone went, if possible, even quieter. The silence pressed on. "Tell me what happened. Now." Said Tabitha with suppressed fury. The man slowly straightened up and spoke for the first time, loudly enough so that everyone would hear.

"I was here with my co-worker to check on an abandoned military base nearby, and on our free day, we rented some mountain-climbing equipment and decided to climb a mountain we had found last week, which we heard appeared and disappeared at random times." He gulped and went on.

"When we were near the top, a terrible snowstorm suddenly broke out, in like, a second, and we were forced to take refuge in a cave we had found. Our food supplies had been ruined by the storm, and soon after, my colleague got sick from the cold. That night, we decided that we had to take our chances in the storm, so we started to climb down, when a huge flying creature came out of the blizzard! It was so white that it camouflaged with the snow. It took my colleague in its horrible claws and flew off with him. He is dead I'm afraid." He took a deep breath and continued his story, not looking at Tabitha in the eye.

"I went on climbing alone, and I was close to the foot of the mountain when the flying creature came back for me. It materialized out of the raging storm, and was about to grab me in its claws when it suddenly stopped, as if frozen. Then, a beautiful singing was heard, like nothing I've ever heard before, and then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it took off and disappeared into the storm. A minute later, a gigantic avalanche was coming my way! I hid behind a rock to deflect the snow, but I was carried to the foot of the mountain by the snow. This young man found me and led me here." He finished, pointing to one of Tabitha's assistants. He blushed and muttered something as Tabitha gave him a disapproving look. She turned to the tourist.

"You had no right climbing that mountain. You're lucky to have come back in one piece. Now leave. And tell your superiors that the people they send to check that military base of theirs always bring trouble. So keep away." She turned around and marched away, the other officials close at her heels. The crowd dispersed slowly, and when we had a view of the path again, the man was gone.

"Zoe?" I turned to Kigali. "That beast... the singing. Did I cause this?" I shook my head for support, but deep inside I wasn't so sure.

"Don't worry about it. Tomorrow's the forth test, and then we'll see about that. We have to meet Tabitha in the platform at dawn tomorrow." We walked slowly back to our tent. It was now one of two standing in opposite ends of the center of the village. She sighed and sat down by the totem pole and looked up.

"The stars were beautiful." I nodded, gazing at the sky. It was soothing. "I miss Anna." She was now fingering her bracelet, which was now blue. I had suspected it had a connection to Anna. "Sometimes, I feel as though I was dragged into this whole 'goddess' thing. Maybe I'm just supposed to look for Anna. She might be waiting for me."

"Loyalty won't do you any good. The preliminaries of the Tournament will be in Japan, you will see her then, but after you finish your training."

"IF I make it."

"You will. I know you will." We looked up at the sky once more and then went back into the tent and curled up inside the bed. The stars sang as we drifted to sleep.

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Awesome! Hope you guys will stick around for the next chapter.

NOOOOO!!!! Kigali is still a kid! But she'll grow up soon! PINKY PROMISE!

Next Chapter- Tournament's End


	11. Tournament's End

YAY! You guys are so nice! I feel so special when you review me! U ppl rock.

Anyways, this is the uh... ELEVENTH chapter of Twilight's Song! Yeah!

I know last chapter was a bit short, so I made it longer this time, lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. Shaman King is owned... by the people who made Shaman King, of course! And I don't own Eggo Waffles or CARD CAPTOR SAKURA! Yes, the book of Gali is the book of clow, so sue me. WAIT! NO! DON'T!

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**KIGALI **

I dreamed that night. I dreamed a kind of dream I had never dreamt before. Series of images flashed across my head. A raven flew. A boy sat across a fire, shadowed by its flames. A white wolf howled. A girl with long, blond hair laughed. Two people holding hands by the ocean, their forms dull against the sunset. A blizzard in summer. Rain in Sahara. A blue feather. An itako necklace. A white hawk. A pair of orange headphones. A spirit...the spirit of... fire

I yelped as I woke with a start. Zoe was immediately at my side, asking what was wrong. I felt silly.

"It was just a nightmare. Did I scare you Zoe? I'm sorry." I hugged her small, lion cub form against my body.

"It's almost dawn, Key. Better get going." I nodded and dressed in my tribe clothes and put on the Nevermeltice in the form of an armlet that covered most of my lower arm.

"Breakfast." I grumbled sleepily.

"Where?" She asked, just as sleepily. I smiled.

"Let's go to the dining hall. Remember all the food?" She licked her lips. We ran to the dining hall, but there was no food out.

"What do these people EAT!?" I yelled in frustration. Zoe pointed out the kitchen door. We walked into a kitchen with none of the appliances I knew in Shallow Brook. No electricity. I looked around. There was a clay oven and many cabinets to store food in, followed by a large water pump on a sink-type container.

"Hey Zoe! Here's the refrigerator!" I exclaimed, pointing at a door withy a sign. "It's a walk-in! I wonder if they have Eggo Waffles...?" I opened the door and walked into a room that was freezing cold, there was no electricity, but the temperature outside made it cold enough. It was filled with different kinds of meat.

"No waffles." I sighed. I turned to look at Zoe. She was half-inside a huge cloth bag that said 'SUGAR' in big, red letters.

"HEY! Hey, hey, hey!!! Share the goods man!" I pulled her out of it she shook herself and started running around the kitchen like a powdery blur. "Uh-oh. Zoe, maybe you should refrain from eating sugar. I can handle myself. THIS is how you eat sugar." I grabbed a spoon and started chowing down on the bag of sugar. Zoe giggled in a sort of drunken way.

"Not the best breakfast in the world, but hey! It's food!" Soon, the bag was half-empty and we were both lying on the ground.

"Wow."

"You said it."

"Hey Zoe?"

"Huh?"

"What time is it?"

"Almost dawn. Like, right now."

"Wanna race to the platform?" I jumped up, she followed suit. The sugar rush kicked in, and we went zooming out of the dining hall like two bullets. We rushed around the cabins, across the pathâ€ but something was wrong. I suddenly stopped. Zoe followed suit.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's not rightâ€ its dawn. People should be coming out of their cabins right about now... but" She picked up on what I was saying.

"Where is everyone?" She asked, looking around. A breeze brushed a few leaves off the path. It made it look even more deserted. You could even hear crickets. I looked at Zoe.

"Let's go to the platform." We ran there, hoping to encounter Tabitha, but all I found was a note. I read the note, Zoe looking at it from over my shoulder.

_Dear Finalists:_

_I am sorry for not meeting you at the platform as agreed, but it seems I have run into a sort of distraction. When you read this note, come to the arena in which the second test was held for the fourth test. If I were you, I would bring your items. Due to the circumstances, I will delay the starting time of the fourth test to mid-morning. I bid you luck._

_Tabitha Black Star._

Then at the bottom:

**Nagini was here. Kigali is a LOSER!**

"WHAT???!!!! That little freak!" I boiled, but Zoe remained calm.

"Kigali, It will soon be mid morning, and we can't waste Furyoku, we might need all of it for the fourth test. We'll have to get the dog sled to reach the arena." I nodded. We ran to the kennels, which were empty except for the dogs. Many of them, mostly the ones from last time, pawed the walls of their luxurious pens to be let out. I chose my team quickly.

"Ok. Here's the leader. Blaze." I read from the gold plate in his door. I smiled and let him out. He immediately ran to Zoe, who was in human from by the sled, ready to strap the dogs up. I walked down the isle, opening the doors of the dogs I found worthy. "Winka" My husky friend licked my hand and walked calmly to Zoe. "Demon" The German-accented shepherd barked a greeting at me. "Sprite" The playful white half-wolf frisked at my heels before running to Zoe. "Rascal" The furry, brown mutt nosed my hand gently. "Rogue" The red setter ran skipped mischievously to Zoe. I looked for the last member of the team, and finally decided on a tricolor rough collie that was looking at me expectantly. "Lassie...? Ok" I let her loose and she immediately went to the lead position of the team, where Blaze was positioned. She barked at him once and he lowered himself on his belly, his ears pressed against his head in submission. Zoe looked at me surprised. I was amused.

"Let her be in the lead." I ordered. Zoe obeyed, laughing as blaze put himself on Lassie's right side. We ended up switching everyone around before we set off, but when we did, we were off at such a great speed that even Zoe was amazed. Lassie led everyone with a series of barks and yips. One ear cocked forwards and one back towards me. She followed my orders exactly, and all the dogs tagged along with her good-naturedly. They all seemed to like her, except for Blaze, who grumbled and sometimes snapped at her swishing tail. When Blaze had been leader, the team was weary of his impulsiveness and his knack to snap at those behind him. They were scared of him.

"It's funny. One would think that Blaze would be the best leader. He's the largest and strongest one of the dogs" I commented to Zoe as we zoomed towards the arena.

"Well, sometimes, the leader is not chosen by his size and strength. Sometimes, he is chosen by his kindness and spirit, like Lassie, she is very smart and nice to the team. I think she believes in teamwork." I watched Lassie. Zoe was right. She used each team member by his or her strengths and qualities. She was a good leader. By the time I had gotten thoughts of Lassie and leadership out of my head, we were within sight of the arena

"And that, my friends, must be Tabitha's 'distraction'." Snickered Zoe. I didn't have to look very hard for the distraction, because it was pretty much all over the place. It seemed as if all of Kovu Village had come to watch the fourth test. Every single person was there, it was a distraction of a thousand people. Zoe landed on the sled as we neared the arena. By now, a little boy had seen me approaching and was yelling at everyone about my arrival. As soon as I stepped off the dog sled, I was enveloped by a cheering mob. I looked at Zoe, puzzled at their behavior. She looked just as confused.

"Kigali!!!!! Hey Kigali!!!! Excuse me, pardon me. Hey watch it! KIGALI!!! HERE!!!" I turned around to find a small blue head struggling through the crowd. A small Koro Pokkuru floated above her head.

"PILIKA!!!!" I reached her with great effort and hugged her tight. "Girl! What are you doing here! I thought you went back to the Ainu Tribe." She laughed happily.

"Well, I did, but as soon as I heard that you made it to the semifinals, I HAD to come! I can't believe you're up against Nagini! You'll kick her butt! HI ZOE!!!" Zoe turned into a small Koro Pokkuru and jumped in her arms, smiling. She looked me up and down. "Wow! I love your clothes! You look gorgeous!"

"Hey Pilika! Wait up!" A cute boy about my age suddenly appeared from the multitude came up to Pilika and me. He was a bit taller than me and had blue, spiky hair and deep, black eyes. He smiled friendlily at me. He was wearing an Ainu headband. Pilika turned to me.

"Kigali, this is my brother, HoroHoro." I smiled flirtingly at him and winked. He blushed. Zoe scoffed and muttered something about me acting like Nagini. I turned back to Pilika.

"Hey Pilika, I gotta go, I'll see you guys after the test OK?" They nodded and wished me good luck. Zoe floated above me. The crowd parted as I went through, patting my back and wishing me fortune. Tabitha smiled when she saw me and walked up to me.

"Glad you made it, Kigali. I was going to meet you in the platform, but these people demanded to attend the fourth test."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, the Kovu Tribe is the one of the most loyal tribes to the goddess, her first reincarnation is the one who funded the Kovu Tribe, after all."

"Why did they all wish me good luck? Did they do that to Nagini too?" Her smile faded a bit as she jerked her head towards Nagini, who was on the other side of the arena, flirting with the referee.

"No. Just you. You know, the whole tribe knows you. Most of them knew and loved your mother very much, and when she died, she left you in my care. It seems to me that the talk of how much you are like your mother has gone around quite a bit. They'd be right of course." She ruffled my hair and marched to the center of the arena, once there, she took out a kind of horn made from a white spiral seashell and blew on it hard. Everyone stopped chatting and turned their attention towards the priestess.

"Attention! The fourth test will now commence! This will be a Shaman Fight in which the combatant that looses Oversoul first will be disqualified. The combatants will be Nagini Fox Fire from Volkan... and Kigali Twilight Song from Kovu." There was a great load of cheering at this. I could faintly hear Pilika's frantic cheers.

"Twilight Song?" I whispered to Zoe.

"That's your nature name, like Tabitha's is Black Star." She whispered back. Tabitha continued her speech effortlessly.

"Combatants! Take your places at opposite sides of the arena!" I followed Zoe to our side. My stomach churned. I was getting nervous. Zoe looked at me confidently.

"Don't worry, just take a deep breath and try to RELAX." I squared my shoulders and faced Nagini, at the far away side of the field. She was far away, so I couldn't see her face, but if I could, I bet it would be an ugly smirk. Tabitha went on with the rules.

"The looser is the one who breaks her Oversoul, runs out of Furyoku, spirit is destroyed, or detained in a manner in which they cannot fight. The fighters may use the legendary items they gathered from Quaff Mountain as they please. You may begin at the horn." She backed away into a tiny platform in one of the sides of the arena. For a few tense moments, all the onlookers were silent. Hundreds of people stood wordlessly, surrounding all four sides of the arena, waiting for signal.

Then the horn sounded.

All hell broke loose. The spectators burst into noisy racket. I saw Nagini summon her spirit. I looked at Zoe.

"Ready?"

"You bet!" I held my hands above my head, but couldn't focus on Zoe's spirit. The crowd was making too much noise! _Just take a deep breath and try to RELAX. _My mind suddenly focused, and Zoe went to wolf-aura form. She howled an intimidating war-call behind me and enveloped me in as a cloud of aura. Like last time, she combined with my essence. The power was back. I opened my sapphire eyes and flipped my ice-white hair. My blue angel wings fluttered and my tail swished. I flexed my claws and turned to Nagini. She was a slow integrator. She was still fusing with her fox spirit. I took out the Nevermeltice and it immediately turned into its sword shape. I bared my fangs. I was on my element.

I watched Nagini, or what was left of her. She was turning into a terrible and very pissed-looking beast. Not to mention ugly. Nine fox tails sprouted out of her tailbone, her eyes shined redâ€ and her auraâ€ her aura

"Kigali. You WILL die." She charged at me, fast. I jumped over her with razor-sharp reflexes. My sword flashed, aiming for her. _Swish. _Some of her long, red hair fell to the ground in a useless heap. Nagini stood still.

"You missed on purpose." She jerked around and sharp claws slashed where I had been half a second ago. "I won't be so merciful." I flipped backwards a few yards, out of her reach. She cupped her hands and a red laser-like sword burst out of her hands. "So you wanna play soldiers? Let's have a go at it." She flashed her sword, and it glowed even more as it clashed with mine. It glowed. I smiled and skipped back a few feet. _Mist. _Immediately, the field was enveloped in a thick fog, and Nagini's sword stood out like a lighthouse. I struck at her sword; she just held the sword in front of her for protection. She couldn't see me in the fog, I camouflaged perfectly. I struck again and again, but hesitated to hurt her. I hated blood spill. If I had to detain Nagini, I would do it in another form.

I silently pulled back into the mist and changed my sword into a shield. I centered my Furyoku on the ground.

"ICE QUAKE!" I sent a pulse of power through the ground. It grumbled and then became completely covered in a thick sheet of ice. It trembled some more and all around me stalagmites of ice rapidly pushed out of the ground and rose up fifty feet. The field was now a huge ice forest, with mist surrounding the massive ice spikes. I couldn't see Nagini's sword. She must have gotten smart about it. I closed my eyes and listened. Soft footsteps... closer... breathing... claws on ice... behind me! I pushed off a nearby icicle as Nagini crashed into the ice where I had been. She left a six feet deep dent. Nagini laughed. I cleared the mist. It had no use to me anymore. The people in the crowd cheered at having visibility of the field again.

Nagini walked slowly back to her side of the arena. I did the same and withdrew the ice spikes back into the ground to have a better view of her. She laughed an ugly laugh.

"Well, well, well. I must admit that I'm surprised. You're a better fighter than I thought! But as I draw my most powerful weaponâ€ you have no chance of surviving!" She laughed manically and pulled her sacred item from her waist bag. It was the book from Quaff Mountain. "This is the sacred book of Gali! The first goddess of water and ice! And with this, I will destroy you!" She laughed crazily again as she reached for the seal in the book and pulled... and pulled... and pulled again

"WHAT!!!!????? It won't open!!!!!!!" She screamed in outrage. I fell over on the floor, laughing my butt off. Tabitha called 'times' and walked over to Nagini.

"Well Nagini, if you had come to see me, you might have known that only one of pure heart can open and control the book." She explained loud enough for all to hear. More laughing. Nagini exploded.

"Don't give me that!" Tabitha moved back as Nagini gathered up a ball of Furyoku. "There's nothing a little of power won't open!!!" She slammed the ball into the seal, which opened with an explosion, but surprisingly, the book was unharmed. She laughed evilly and opened the cover of the book. I gasped in surprise. Instead of normal pages in a regular book, the pieces of paper making up the book were hollowed out and stuck together, making a sort of box for a deck of cards. As soon as Nagini opened the cover fully, the cards flew out of the book and started circling Nagini like the earth around the sun. Nagini laughed.

"See Kigali? This book contains 52 cards. Each has the essence of all elements in existence, but you wouldn't know that now wouldn't you? Why don't I just show you?" She looked at the cards that were surrounding her and grabbed one forceful, as if the card was struggling. "You should like this one, Kigali. GO! WIND!!!" The card shined and transformed itself into a beautiful girl with flyaway hair. She seemed to be made of a special kind of aura, but there was no doubt about it; it was the personified essence of wind.

"Wind! I command you to attack Kigali!" She pointed at me threateningly. The Wind looked at Nagini and yawned, then she looked at me and laughed a light, airy, laugh. She flew to my side and stood behind me, trying to frown but only attempting an amused giggle. The crowd went into fits of whispering and murmuring at the recent events.

"IMPOSSIBLE! How did you? FINE! I"LL JUST TRY ANOTHER CARD! GO THE DASH!!!" Another card shined and sprang to life, this time in the shape of a small cat-like animal. "GO! Seek and destroy!" The Dash ran towards me so fast that it became a violet flash. It swirled about me a couple of times before climbing on my shoulder and licking my cheek as greeting. Nagini screamed in rage. I hiccupped back my laughter.

"Dash! Wind! Come back!" They were dragged back to Nagini and returned neatly to her hand, once again in their card form. She put the book back in her waist back and then threw it aside.

"I won't use my item... you can use yours of course... but when you lose WITH the item... my, my... how humiliating would that be? Losing to an unarmed opponent... and with such a weapon" She laughed harshly. I narrowed my eyes. She was clever. Too clever. That last comment had hit a nerve. I tossed my weapon aside. The crowd broke into a constant murmuring and hissing, but I could care less. This would be me and Nagini, hand-to-hand combat... one on one.

Nagini saw her window of opportunity. Her aura flared around her as she dashed towards me. I could have dodged easily... but that was no way to start a fight. We rammed against each other full onâ€ our hands met each other and our claws intertwined. I shoved against her... she shoved back. We were too even. I jumped back a few feet and pulled on her hands at the same time. I grasped her wrists and slung her around me, and then I let her go. She went flying... but not before grasping at my wrists with her nails. Five long slashes bled freely on each of my wrists. The sight of blood awoke a feeling inside me... a sense... adrenaline rushed through my veins... I felt bloodthirstyâ€ I felt reckless.

"What is it Nagini? Reduced to a catfight?" I taunted her. She fell for the mock and charged at me. We clashed in a flash of movement. Blue on red. Red on blue. We slashed at each other, I bit, she punched, I kicked, she sank her teeth into my shoulder. We were two blurs across the arenaâ€ moving faster than the eye could follow. She snarled viciouslyâ€ I growled fiercely. No! We were too even! I wanted to it! This was my second time integrating, my Furyoku was draining; I couldn't let my Oversoul break.

I punched her stomach, she kicked me in the back. Pain, oh man, there WAS pain. It felt like my whole body was screaming in pain. Poor Zoe, she was feeling this too. My strength was almost gone... Nagini's too... I could feel it. Her Oversoul flickered, but we kept fighting. We stopped moving around the field, now we were fighting in the center of the arena. Our speed had been knocked down a notch too. I kicked her knees and she fell hard on the ground, but not before grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and pulling me down after her. I fell by her side, lifted my body and threw out my leg for one last kick. All my energy went in it. She rolled away a few feet and her Oversoul glimmered away... mine followed after about five seconds. A battered Zoe appeared by my side.

I finally collapsed in exhaustion. I wasn't unconscious; in fact, my mind was as sharp as ever. It was my body that wouldn't respond. I lay there, literally beat, a dark pool of blood covered the ground, surrounding me. Zoe whimpered and tried to stand up, but the injuries I had suffered were also inflicted on her. As she was a special spirit, she would keep all the wounds I kept, but she could heal them four times faster than me.

The referee came to see if we were both alive. We were. He called Tabitha over and they had a short argument over the fight, finally, the referee yelled the results out loud for everyone to hear.

"This match has been considered a draw!"

"WHAT?" I yelled.

"NO WAY!" Nagini joined me.

"We will break the tie!" Added Tabitha. "The one who stands up first will be the winner!" Injuries forgotten, I jumped up on my feet. Nagini did the same. At the same time.

"Another draw!" Yelled the referee. I breathed out in frustration. Nagini cursed under her breath. Tabitha and the referee had another conversation, and then turned towards the crowd, their faces somber.

"We have decided on a fifth test!" Announced Tabitha. The crowd whispered excitedly. "But this test will choose the goddess without fail. I didn't want to be drawn to this option, but there is no choice." She paused dramatically. "The finalists must summon the beast of the snows!" Gasps from the crowd. "It is also known as the Arctic Anka. It's a beast that resurrects itself every 500 years, the opposite element of the phoenix. It's a demon of the sky that flies all around the world and is the basis of all cold in the oceans and atmosphere. The Anka flies continually, never touching the ground. Its only resting placeâ€ is the summit of Quaff Mountain.

"The only person who can summon and control the all-powerful Anka, was the Goddess of Ice and Water. She is the only one who can make the beast of the snows come down from the sky and touch the ground. The Anka only obeys those with a pure soul, and the Goddess had a soul as pure as crystal. The finalists will try to summon the Anka! The one who succeeds is the Goddess." The crowd went deathly quiet as Tabitha walked towards us.

"The finalists will attempt to summon the Anka with the horn of the deep!" She held out the white horn made from the spiral seashell. Nagini snatched it from her.

"I'll go first, if you don't mind." She sneered at me.

"I don't." I did.

I watched her as she put the horn to her lips and blew hard. We waited in anticipation, but nothing happened. I sighed in relief. Nagini was in one of her anger-management attacks again. She was blowing the horn continually, occasionally yelling at the sky or at random people.

"Nagini! That's enough!" Tabitha tried to take the shell from Nagini, but she scooted out of reach.

"FINE! I can't summon the Anka! But if I can't, then no one else can either!" She smashed the shell against the frozen ground, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. The crowd gave a unified gasp. I groaned. I had a feeling Nagini would do something like that. Tabitha was now yelling her head out at Nagini, who was more than a little scared of the raging priestess. They yelled... and yelled... I turned to Zoe in despair. _Now what???_ I mouthed at her. She was lying down calmly, licking her wounds.

"There are other ways of summoning the Anka." She said quietly.

"You mean... that guy...?" She nodded.

"So all I have to do is... sing...?" She repeated the gesture.

"I have faith in you." She said calmly. I cleared my throat a few times, and then started vocalizing softly... then louder... and louder still... Tabitha and Nagini stopped in mid-argument. All eyes in the crowd turned towards me. My first notes came out a bit flat, but as I sang on, they started flowing out smoothly and swiftly

"You fool. You cannot beckon the Anka with mere singing." Sneered Nagini, but I ignored her... everything faded out... It was just the skies and I. Shivers ran down my spine as the song reached its peak. The sky darkened. Silver clouds blocked the sun from its lofty view in the heavens. My last note resonated in the chilling artic air... it echoed in the silence. All eyes were still on me, but my full attention was focused on the skies. I smiled as a dark silhouette was spotted in between the shadows... it circled like a vulture over its kill.

A snowflake fell on my nose, and another on my arm. Soon, there was a flurry of snow dropping from the atmosphere. I breathed it in. The mild flurry quickened with my heartbeat. It became a blinding blizzard. I put two fingers in my lips and gave a long, piercing whistle. The wind picked up even more. I looked up and glanced right into a pair of ocean-blue eyes. Huge eyes... deep blue. The beast landed in front of me. The beast of the snows. The arctic Anka.

"You're really not a beast at all!" I looked at the so-called 'beast', hovering above me. It was a snow-white eagle the size of a jet. It had sky-blue markings on its wings, tail, and cheeks. It also had three blue feathers on top of its head and a sapphire right above its curving beak, between its eyes, which stared at me with intense intelligence and curiosity. Its beak was a pewter-gray, so were its razor-sharp talons, except white, furry feathers mostly covered them. Above its blue tail feathers grew three spikes the color of its beak, they reminded me of Wolverine's claws in X-Men. Ok, so it was huge. It was very huge. It was small enough to sit on top of a house without making it collapse, but it was big enough to carry an elephant in its claws. A blue aura identical to Zoe's and mine sparkled around it.

A sudden love flared inside me. This bird was mine. This bird had waited 500 years for me to return. I reached out with my arms and she reached down with his giant talons and grabbed each of my arms, light as a feather, and lifted me into the sky, unseen by anyone because of the white blizzard. Zoe jumped to the air and followed us from behind. The ground grew smaller and smaller until we entered the blanket of clouds above the field. I got soaked from head to toe, but I can't say it wasn't fun. Unlike most kids my age, I was never afraid of heights. Good thing too, because dangling from your arms in the talons of a huge eagle-like creature a hundreds of feet in the air would have made most people pee their pants.

I reached for the Anka's furry feathers and climbed up onto her back like an elevated perch. We twirled in the air in happy reunion. We went way up high into the sky where the air was so thin I had to yawn to breathe, and then dived down at incredible speed to skim the misty clouds like the waves of the ocean. I laughed in pure joy. Forget roller coasters, now THIS was exhilarating! We hovered for a few moments above the clouds, and then the Anka flapped her wings once, sending air spiraling towards the clouds. They parted open, giving us a full view of the entire battlefield. It was still being harassed by the blizzard. The Anka chirped a note and the blizzard immediately quieted down, leaving a snowy arena behind.

We soared lower so we could see the people in the arena. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. The name Kigali was also heard a lot. Tabitha was in one of her fury attacks... Pilika was crying... her brother was comforting her... Nagini was sulking

It suddenly struck by the weirdest thought. They thought I had been carried off to the mountain and eaten by a bloodthirsty beast. The Anka chirped in amusement.

"It's a joke!" Exclaimed Zoe, soaring beside us.

"Oh! I get it! She wants to make a grand entrance! Ha!" I laughed. This bird was seriously smart. We picked the right time and then soared to the highest altitude possible, once there, the Anka slowly pivoted its body and dived down to earth. We gained velocity fast as we plummeted to the ground. 200 feet... faster... 150 feet... faster... 100... 90... by this time there were people yelling and pointing at us... 50...30... The Anka flared her wings a tiny bit, gaining air resistance, but we still dived down to the earth as fast as a bullet... 15 feet... and... FLARE!

She waved her powerful wings once; a powerful wind picked up and broke our dive. Everything nearby was blown away by the burst of wind, like when a helicopter lands. We touched the ground as neatly and gracefully as a ballerina. The Anka lifted its great head and cried a triumphant screech. Zoe landed by us with a bark of greeting to the audience. I jumped of the giant bird and made a peace sign.

"Yo!" Everything went deathly quiet, and then, very slowly, people started to cheerâ€ then moreâ€ and finally, the whole arena was filled with loud clapping and loud shouting. Tabitha ran over to me, anger forgotten and raised my arm in success.

"PEOPLE OF THE NORTH!" She cried, "OUR GODDESS HAS RETURNED TO US!!!!!!!!" The cheering doubled, if possible, in volume. I smiled vaguely. My vision blurred slightly. Zoe barked worriedly as I sank to my knees.

"Key! You lost too much blood from the fight!" I nodded absently and collapsed to the ground. My sight went completely black

"Kigali! Kigali" Someone cried, but I couldn't tell whoâ€ I slunk off into a deep sleep.

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Lady Dragonfly- Lol, this is one of my personal favorite chapters.

Zoe- Yeah, among, like, twenty others

Kigali- Yay! I was sugarhigh in this chapter! That was fun!  
Lady Dragonfly- Hehehe, I couldn't help myself

Zoe- And we promise Kigali will grow up soooo sooooooooon

Kigali- Yeah, for all those who don't like a lil kid starring in the fic

Lady Dragonfly- Anyways! Review if you can and look to both sides when crossing the street!

Next Chapter- The Iniciation


	12. The Initiation

Hey people! Yay! I'm glad you liked last chapter! This one's a bit short, but the next one will be updated earlier than usual, so I hope it'll balance out.

To Moonbeam the great goddess of night: I'm really glad you like my story, and thanx 4 the suggestions. Yeah, as you'll see in this chapter, the initiation will be sort of like one of the ones you suggested. Thx for reviewing!

Disclaimer- The only thing that doesn't belong to me in this CH is the word FURYOKU, but since it's a Shaman king fic, I have to say it... I don't own it.

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**TABITHA **

I felt Kigali sag beside me. She dropped on top of Zoe with a deep sigh of exhaustion. The crowd was still going wild. This wouldn't do at all. I did not take well to chaos. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled loudly.

"I am aware of your festive feelings, but we can't celebrate here! There is a banquet prepared in the Kovu Dining Hall, we will rejoice there!" Everyone cheered again and headed off in a not-so-orderly fashion. I turned to my aides and started pointing out tasks.

"You, you, and you, make sure everything's ready in the dining hall. You, take care of Kigali's dog sled team, yeah sure. Hey you! Blondie, pay attention! Will someone get this annoying bird out of my way!? Sure, whatever, I don't care. You send this message to Kinaki. The rest of you go keep everything under control in the village. YES, NOW! Well I trained you for a reason, young man! Go all of you! What on earth are you waiting for???!!!" They scrambled away as fast as they could, putting as much space possible between themselves and me. I turned to my niece, who was lying unconscious on the floor, with her spirit nosing her every now and then. The Anka, too, looked at her in worry.

"So our goddess is back." I turned around to find an old lady with one blue mark featured in her right cheek.

"Kinaki." She was the female Chief of the Kovu Tribe, and the only one in the village with more power than me. I nodded. "It amazes me, how much she is like Tala—" I shushed her as Zoe immediately pricked up her ears in rapt attention. Kinaki got the message and called forwards one of my assistants.

"Please take Lady Kigali to the infirmary. We will be there shortly." He nodded and carried off the young girl, with a growling Zoe on his tail. The Anka leaped to the air and disappeared into the clouds. I turned to Kinaki once again.

"I got the message from the priestesses of the two other tribes. The other goddesses have also been discovered."

"Excellent."

"They shall be reunited in six years, the year before the Shaman Tournament, in the Leppa Tribe."

"Yes, of course. Meanwhile, we have plans do we not?" We walked back slowly to the village. The Fifth Moon prophecy had come through for me. My niece was the new goddess. I looked at the twilight moon. Tala would be so proud.

**ZOE **

They laid Kigali down in a soft feather bed in the infirmary and cared for her wounds, but she didn't even stir once. Her Furyoku had been drained and it would take some time to replace. Many people came to see her that night, but wouldn't be let into the room. At midnight, someone DID enter the room. It was Tabitha, accompanied by the old lady we had almost trampled the other day. Both looked very grave. Tabitha shook Kigali gently.

"Kigali, wake up."

"Huh?" She uttered weakly.

"It is time for the initiation." Spoke the old lady for the first time. Tabitha led the half-asleep Kigali out of the infirmary. I hid behind Kigali's hair as a tiny snow mouse as we crossed the center of the village and entered a big house at the other end. Kigali, who was now more awake, blinked in the dim light. A thousand soft candles lighted the inside of the cabin. It was stiflingly warm in the room, due to a scarlet fire burning in the middle of the cabin. I coughed lightly, and Kigali joined me. The air was filled with a strong scent of incense. There were twelve shadowy shapes were sitting in a semicircle around the fire, they were quietly talking among themselves. The old lady sat down in the center seat right in front of the fire.

"We thank Gaea! For our goddess has returned to us!" Started the old lady. "Like the Fifth Moon Prophecy stated, she has come back to put a rest to the sleepless soul of the God of Fire and save the world from the clutch of destruction by becoming the Shaman Queen! She will put balance back into nature! To be born with water, cultivated through wind, be respectful to fire, and returned to the earth!"

"We the elders of the Kovu Tribe welcome the Goddess Kigali Twilight Song and her Sacred Spirit Kazura Storm Chaser!" They chanted. I wagged my tail at the mention of my spirit name. Storm Chaser. How cool is that? But the old lady—I mean, 'elder', wasn't done yet.

"I am aware, as we all are, that our goddess is still a child. But wind will cultivate her like the tiny seed that grows into the mighty redwood! When seven winters are past, and destruction threatens our planet, we will have salvation! And all in the small hands of this child, for great things come in small packages! So we shall start the initiation! Come," She signaled to a hooded assistant, "Bring me the goblet." He obeyed wordlessly, bringing a crystal goblet encrusted with glittering sapphires.

It was filled with some sort of liquid. The elder held the cup in one hand as another of the elders passed her an ivory container. It contained a strange sort of powder, she poured half of it into the cup, and then sprinkled the other half into the fire. The reaction was immediate. The fire turned a deep aqua blue and flared up to impossible heights. The elder turned to Tabitha and signaled her to send Kigali. Tabitha pushed her lightly on the back.

"Through the fire." She said. My hair stood on end, but Kigali was too sleepy to do anything but obey. I grasped onto her shoulder as we stepped into the blue flames, but we didn't get burned, in fact, it sort of ticked. Kigali giggled dreamily. We crossed the fire and knelt before the major elder. She handed the cup to Kigali, who drank the liquid hesitantly, chocking every now and then. When the swallowed the last drop, the fire suddenly returned to its normal, scarlet color. Kigali swayed a bit and collapsed in the ground, unconscious.

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So how was that? Lol, yeah it was short.

Is it just me or does Tabitha act a bit like Anna? Idunno, I didn't mean for it to turn out that way... huh, that's sorta funny.

Anyway, hang with me! Next chapter will be pretty interesting, lol.

Next Chapter- My Fiancé the Northern Shaman


	13. My Fiance the Northern Shaman

Here's chapter 13!

I made this chappie longer to balance out the last one, lol.

A part of this chapter is also sort of like a small side-story, but everything has a purpose in this fic, as you'll soon learn. It may seem very long to you, but it needs to be like that because of all the detail. It gets to be VERY involved.

To Moonbeam the Goddess of Night- Sorry, but no Anna here, Hehehe. She'll come in eventually, although she won't be one of the main characters in this fic.

Disclaimer- Blah Blah Blah Not Mine Blah Blah

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**KIGALI **

I trembled in the darkness. Its silence pressed against me, it suffocated me. It was a nightmare, I knew it was, but no matter how much I screamed, I still wouldn't wake up.

"WHY??? WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME HERE???" I screamed at the darkness. He was watching. I knew he was. "WHO ARE YOU? SHOW YOURSELF NOW!" I demanded, my enraged voice contradicting my fears. My only response was laughing. The darkness laughed all around me. A maniac laugh, it was too much to bear.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!!!!" I cried in agony, my hands around my head. The laughter just kept going, echoing into the endless chasms of the darkness. Suddenly, I felt a deep, burning sensation in my skin. As deep as my soul. I screamed in pain and sat up in my bed, sweating profusely.

"KEY!" I looked through blurry eyes at the shape in front of me. I was shaking.

"Zo—Zoe?" I whispered. Zoe fluttered in distress. She turned into a snow fox and wrapped herself around my neck.

"It was just a nightmare. It's ok." My vision cleared and I saw I was in the infirmary.

"Zoe, how long have I been asleep???" I asked her, rubbing my eyes.

"Since the initiation." My memory swept back. The elders... the blue fire... the goblet...

"How long ago was that?" She hesitated.

"Three weeks..."

"What???" Had I really slept three full weeks?

"But it was supposed to happen." She assured. "The drink from the goblet contained an ingredient that knocks you out for a long time. It was a side effect, but good thing too, because the process is supposedly extremely painful if you're conscious."

"What process?" I asked suspiciously. Zoe sighed and pointed at my upper arm. I looked. And I wish I hadn't. There was a blue marking surrounding my arm once, like a snake. I yelped and pulled the rest of the covers off. Both my upper arms were marked and also my calves with the same swirly mark that enveloped the members in a snake-like ring. My stomach also had two markings, on both sides of my belly button, but these looked like small triangular-slashes. Zoe grabbed a mirror out of the side table.

"They wanted to confiscate the mirrors, but I managed to sneak one in." Said Zoe, holding the mirror for me to see. I yelped again. There were two blue slashes in either side of my collarbone, matching the ones in my stomach, and also two of them in each cheek. They all matched the markings Zoe and the Anka had. I looked at Zoe in annoyance.

"THIS is what that horrible drink was for?"

"Well, at least eating that grub taught you to handle that awful drink..." She said optimistically. I covered my head with the covers.

"Zoe! It's too early for optimism." I said in a muffled voice, "And grubs." I added. I faintly heard a knock in the door of the main infirmary hall, right outside my room. Loud arguing followed the knock.

"Uh-Oh. Sounds like Tabitha," She was right. Tabitha came into my room a few moments later.

"Kigali! How are you feeling Kiddo?" I pulled the covers back from my face and pointed at my face indignantly.

"What have you done with my face???"

"WOW! You look awesome!" Her attitude towards the problem took me by surprise.

"Huh?"

"Yeah! You know how many people would want those? They're the markings all the goddesses of water and ice have had before you. Call it tradition. Besides, they make you look beautiful AND cool at the same time! A hard thing to achieve, believe me." Something was fishy.

"Hey, umm... Tabitha? You came here for any special reason?"

"Well... yes. I have news. Four of them."

"Good or bad?"

"Depends on your view on the subject..." I groaned inwardly.

"What is it?"

"Ok, first of all, Nagini left today to go back to Volkan. She left me the sacred book of Gali. It's yours now." She handed me the old, yet strangely new book. I gave a squeak of excitement.

"Second of all, I got you a spare room at my house. You'll be staying with me." Ok, so far so good!

"Third of all, I'll start your training in a week. You'll feel better by then." Ok, I can handle that.

"And fourth..." She hesitated. Uh-Oh. "Fourth, I umm... made an agreement with a friend in the Ainu Tribe and managed to get you a fiancé..."

"A what?"

"A fiancé... a bethroned... an engagement partner... a future husband." She explained.

"WHAT?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zoe and I screamed at the same time.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! Nonononononononono!!!!!!" I stomped my feet against the bedpost. Zoe howled. A pretty woman with blue hair stuck her head into the room.

"I suppose you told her?" She asked, amused.

"Yes, please come in, Yukimi. Like I said, she didn't take it too well." I was so mad I could burst.

"B—but why???" I asked indignantly.

"It was to protect you."

"How is giving my freedom away to someone protecting???" I yelled.

"As you might already know Kigali, in your past life, the Goddess' fall was because of her love to the God of Fire. She's the reason he became Shaman King five hundred years ago."

"I'm not the past goddess! I'm me! Kigali!"

"I know that, but souls that have lived before attract each other. I'm afraid you have no choice here, Kiddo." She smiled sadly. "Your mother was wild too, not as wild as you, but wild all the same. She was so wild that she wouldn't marry. Men came from villages far and near, asking for her hand in marriage, but she wouldn't take any of them. Until your father came and swept her off her feet, then he proposed to her and practically shipped her off to his big, American house.

"That's the way he did it. And story goes that he got bored of her once they got there and divorced her, but wouldn't let her come back here. She never forgave him. She looked out the window the rest of her life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. When she couldn't take it anymore, she made a run for the village and made it here after a life-risking struggle with your father.

"She died in this building, surrounded by all those she had left behind. I had warned her, but she had been dazed by love. I never got to ask her if she made the best with what she got or if she was sorry because she couldn't be all the things she had wanted to be. She was my sister and best friend. Kigali. You have inherited her wild spirit."

"That was an uplifting story. It will sure change my mind when it comes to marriage and abusive husbands." I said sarcastically, trying to hide the painful memories that story had brought.

"I agree. But I have chosen your fiancé with this story in mind. I have chosen someone who is the opposite of your father. Show him in, Yukimi." She did, and in walked none other than...

"Pilika??? I'm sorry Tabitha, but I don't lean that way." I crossed my arms. Tabitha slapped her forehead.

"Pilika just wanted to be here. Yukimi, show the real one in, please." Again, Yukimi opened the door and a boy with spiky, blue hair walked in. It was Pilika's brother.

"Kigali, this is your fiancé, HoroHoroUsui from the Ainu Tribe." I jumped up from my bed and pushed him aside on my run out the door. Tears fell from my eyes. I ran outside and sat down at the foot of a pine tree at the edge of the forest that marked the boundaries of the Kovu Village. I sunk my head in Zoe's soft seal fur and cried. I felt ashamed of myself. I had made a fool of myself in front of all those people. I wasn't EVER supposed to marry!

When Anna and I had been at Shallow Brook, many boys in the town nearby flirted with us, but we never took any of them seriously. We laughed at them. We promised each other never to let ANYONE steal our freedom away, for we had both agreed that freedom and friendship were the most important things in the world. The priorities, we called them. My power was my own. I would not give it away without a fight.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey." I looked up. It was HoroHoro.

"What is it..." I asked, worn out by the excitement of the day. He sat beside me

"Hey, come on, I won't be a bad fiancé. Promise." I turned away from him. "You know, I think you're the prettiest, coolest girl I've ever seen. I would be honored if you would be my fiancé."

"Your fiancé? YOUR fiancé? I'm sorry HoroHoro, but I don't want to be owned by someone."

"You don't want to marry? That's strange. Most girls won't quit thinking about it. Including my sister." He said, poking a leaf with a stick.

"I'm not most girls."

"Yeah, I've noticed... so then what do you want to be?" He asked. It was a simple question, but I thought about it for a bit before answering him.

"I... I want to be... like the waves on the sea... like the clouds in the wind... I want to be a bird so I can fly free and not be held back by anything at all. Oh... never mind, you probably wouldn't understand..." I sighed in defeat.

"Yeah I do. You want to be free. You don't want to be tamed by anyone; you just want to keep your wild spirit. I understand. And I admire that." He added, not looking at me in the eyes. I felt guilty. I had only thought about how I felt, and didn't even give HoroHoro's feelings a thought. But before I could apologize, he went on. "I know you don't want a fiancé. Neither do I, but if I DID want one, it would probably be you. Since we're stuck in this together, how about we make the best out of it. I might be your fiancé..." He said, giving me a small purple flower, "...but I can also be your friend." He smiled sincerely. I felt my heart warm. He was cute. And too nice. AND very hard to be mad at. "Besides, I would never take your freedom away. Promise." I couldn't help but smile.

"Ok. I believe you, but I just don't want to inherit my mother's place by the window..."

"You won't." He promised. "I won't allow it."

For the next week, HoroHoro and I were inseparable. We became fast friends despite the 'circumstances'. He was allowed to stay in the Kovu Village until my training started. We hung out 24-7 and Tabitha even let him stay over in her house with me. Probably to change my views on marriage, but hey! Whatever! He taught me how to snowboard and made me a tiny wooden sculpture of a winged wolf.

"For good luck." He said. He wasn't so bad. More than once I found myself thinking that if I had to marry someone, it would be him, but I usually caught myself before the thoughts got really serious. We were just friends. That's all. Just friends.

"Hey Key! Check that out!" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at where he was pointing. We were both just chilling out in the forest a few miles away from the village, so I guess I was surprised to find a huge, hi-tech building in the middle of nowhere. We crept closer.

"It's abandoned." I concluded. "Wanna go inside?" He smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask." Kororo gave a whimper of displeasure. We crept into the building through a loose door (which Zoe had to tear out) and walked around. It seemed some sort of lab. It was definitely a huge room... it fact, it seemed as though this single room occupied the whole building. Everything was dusty and dim and the computers were mostly broken, but some were still running.

"Hey Kigali, can you manage computers?" HoroHoro called from across the room.

"Yeah, be right there." I said, examining a broken crystal case, which had been used for prototypes. A small sign on it said 'Genesis-3-2-5 Prototype hoverboard', with a picture of a flying-saucer looking kind of thing with a stick figure on top. I felt inside the case, but nothing was there, so I turned my attention to HoroHoro.

"Waz'up?" I asked him, looking over his shoulder at the glowing computer screen. He was going through some files.

"Check it out... this used to be a military base... and here's a list of the sergeants and colonels that have worked here..."

"Wait! Go back one!" He obeyed and went back to a name I found awfully familiar.

"Colonel Thomas Belaqua?"

"Yeah! Click on it." He did, and out popped a bunch of files on him... and his picture...

"Kigali... you ok?"

"HoroHoro! That's my dad! Look!" I pointed at several points in his resume. "Two daughters... wife's name... Tala... That's my mom! And... current establishment... Morocco, Africa..."

"WOW!" Exclaimed Kororo, floating beside Zoe.

"So your last name is Belaqua? Cool. Kigali Belaqua. It matches. But he looks nothing like you." I nodded.

"People say I look like my mom." I walked away to explore more of the lab as HoroHoro kept playing with the computer. I found a flashlight and opened a storage closet. There were piles of boxes higher than me stacked neatly on top of each other. I grabbed one from the middle of the pile, causing the rest of them to fall to the side, almost on top of a feline Zoe, who hissed and climbed on my shoulder.

"Whoops..." I examined the box I had pulled out. 'FRAGILE'... blah blah blah... number edition blah... and...

"Zoe! Look! First Edition Genesis 325 hoverboard!" She jumped from my shoulder and turned into her usual wolf form.

"Open it!!!" I opened forcefully the flaps of the box and dug through the little white corn chips until I toughed something hard. I grabbed it and triumphantly pulled out a brand-spanking-new hoverboard.

"OH WOW...!" I breathed. "It must be one of a kind!"

"Well, NOW it is." Replied Zoe, looking at the fallen boxes.

It was beautiful. It was shaped like a giant Frisbee, or like a flying saucer. Its bottom was slightly round and its top was flat, with a strap for one foot on it. It was gleaming silver and seemed to be made of a very light metal 'extremely durable' the booklet said. It seemed a bit big for me, but I could grow into it.

"Awesome!" I said, admiring it.

"Hey um... Key? Maybe you should read this." She pointed at the booklet. 'Warning... this piece of equipment is not a toy... blah blah... it is a standard piece of military equipment/weapon'. I laughed.

"Gimme a break!" I said, patting the hoverboard, and accidentally moving a sliding switch in the bottom of it. Sharp, curved knives slid out where the curved part and the flat part of the hoverboard met, making it look like a very dangerous flower with gleaming knives for petals.

"Oh... that's what they meant..." I said weakly, backing away from the board a bit.

"I bet they used them for transportation and if they needed to fight, they pressed the spikes button and whirled it at their enemies like a Frisbee..." mused Zoe as she slid the switch back into place. The blades slid into the hoverboard again, "How barbaric."

"How very pleasant." I added. I looked over the hoverboard and found a switch on the top part. "You step on it to turn it on..." I stepped on it, but nothing happened.

"Won't work Key. Look." She pointed at the booklet again. "You need some seriously powerful power to go here..." She pressed a small square in the bottom of the hoverboard and it slid out like a drawer. It was empty.

"Aw man!" I complained. "Can't we ju—" I was suddenly cut off by a loud alarm, like a fire drill, and then an unemotional, mechanical voice spoke.

"**YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE. THE BASE WILL BE DESTROYED IN T-MINUS-10 SECONDS. HAVE A NICE DAY.**" I whirled around to find a very pale HoroHoro in the computer seat.

"YOU WEIRDO! YOU ACTIVATED THE SELF-DESTROY SEQUENCE!!!" I yelled at him.

"We can deactivate it! It says here that there is an 'ABORT' handle in the back of the lab! But we won't make it in time!"

"**T-MINUS-6 SECONDS**" I looked at the 'back of the lab' I was on the other side of the room. About 100 feet away. Too far away. Oh God! We were going to explode!!! _Ok, take a deep breath and think._ I grabbed the hoverboard.

"This thing is fast enough to take me there!"

"Key! It has no power!!!" HoroHoro yelled. I bit my lip. He was right. Power... power... seriously powerful power... My eyes fell on Zoe.

"THAT'S IT!!! Zoe, come here!!!" As soon as she was close enough, I reached for her and swiped a single, blue feather from one of her angel wings. She yelped in surprise.

"**T-MINUS-4 SECONDS**" I turned the hoverboard over and pressed the small square I had seen Zoe press. The drawer instantly swooshed out. I quickly placed the feather inside the drawer and pushed it back in. The response was immediate. The hoverboard glowed a sapphire blue and floated up a few feet, then it became its usual silver again, but it kept floating. YES! I jumped on it, thanking HoroHoro's snowboard lessons. _Fly_. It obeyed instantaneously, and swooshed to the other end of the lab before you could say:

"**T-MINUS-1 SECONDS**" As soon as we neared the handle, I unhooked my foot from the strap and practically flew across the room. I caught the handle and pulled down in the snitch of time.

"**T-MINUS...**" The mechanical voice paused for a moment. I held my breath. "**SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ABORTED. HAVE A NICE DAY**"

"OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!" I yelled. HoroHoro ran over to me and hi-fived me.

"All right! We make a pretty good team!"

"We? You didn't do anything but start the self-destruct sequence!" I said jokingly. He laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh yea... that..." Yes. We DID make a pretty good team. At times. Ok, Not this one, but I wasn't gonna tell him that any time soon. We hurried out of the base for obvious reasons, him in his snowboard and me on my new hoverboard.

HoroHoro left the next day for his village. He was to be trained to be the representative of the Ainu Tribe in the Shaman Tournament. When he left, I cried. But not in front of him, because Anna had taught me that it's OK to cry, but not in front of others, because it symbolizes weakness. If people see you cry, they walk all over you. So I just gave him a sad smile as he walked away, snowboard strapped to his back, Kororo floating by his side. The Northern Shaman.

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**Yes, this IS a Hao/oc fic, but, as I said before, the story gets VERY involved, lol. I hope you guys aren't getting impatient, and if you are, sorry!**

Next chapter- Six Years Later


	14. Six Years Later

YES! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! KIGALI'S A TEEN! YEAH!!!!!!

Disclaimer- This I don't own: Shaman King, Jansport, and Disney

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**0o0**

**SIX YEARS LATER**

**0o0**

"Aunt Tabby!!!! Wake up! C'MON!!!!!!" I jumped up on her bed and bounced her off. Zoe barked and pulled on her covers.

"WHAT IS IT?" She mumbled in frustration.

"TODAY'S THE DAY!!!!!!! TODAY!!!!" I whirled Zoe around happily. She laughed and licked my face.

"Ok, ok... sure... I'll wake up. Now will you give me some room while I change???" She shoved us out the door.

"C'mon Zoe! Let's go wake up Blizzard!" We ran outside like two crazed idiots. Several villagers greeted me once outside.

"Hi Miss Kigali!"

"Good morning Lady Kigali!"

"Did you sleep well, Mistress?"

"Yeah! Like a rock!" I ran past the totem pole and stopped in front of the Elder's meeting place. The giant Anka was sleeping on the roof, she had chosen that place to sleep after many incidents concerning broken ceilings and cracked walls, but the Elder's cabin was strong enough to hold the massive animal. I whistled once at her. She opened one blue eye.

"Hey Blizzard! C'mere girl!" I baby talked her. She spread her wings and swooped down, butting me with her head. A few years ago I would have rolled off, but Aunt Tabitha's training had paid off. I hugged her big beak.

"Did you know Blizzard? Today's the day! Today! Can you believe it???" She looked at me intelligently and chirped twice. I laughed. Zoe climbed on her back in her human form. I followed and Blizzard took off into the morning air.

Six full years had passed since I had first stepped into my village and took the initiation as the goddess. Of course, I later found out that awful drink didn't just give me the blue markings, but also awesome powers I never even dreamed I had, like breathing underwater and walking on it, with some others I can't remember at this moment. Kinaki, the chief leader of Kovu, had told me that it didn't GIVE me the powers; it just awakened those I already had. She also invites me to tea every Tuesday.

Tabitha's training, too, helped me improve my powers. In fact, if it weren't for her trainings, I probably wouldn't stand a chance in the Shaman Tournament. But if you told me they were easy, I would probably faint in response. It was NOT easy training, but if I look back six years ago, I think it's definitely an improvement.

Two years ago, when I was eleven, Tabitha took me traveling around the world for a year. The main point of this trip was to gather spirits of animals from all around the world; I have a whole zoo in my veins, which I can call upon when I'm in need to shapeshift. But I also got to see lots of new things and meet tons of powerful shamans (and their trainings, to my dismay) and also many different places (How cold is Antarctica you ask?).

Tabitha also home schooled me so I wouldn't fall behind on my studies. She said that I'll probably won't need it, since I'll be a professional shaman, and if I'm lucky, Shaman Queen, but she also said that it's always nice to have a plan B to fall back on. It's one of her favorite quotes...

Sure, the free trip around the world was incredible. Good thing too, because that way it balances out the rest of her training. More than once I've been hospitalized. I practically have a bed with my name on it in the infirmary (And a nurse).

If you really want to know all the horrible trainings I've survived, you COULD ask Zoe. Tabitha made her train too, but the standard training was to run 50 miles before breakfast (Sound inhumane? Just wait), 500 pushups and sit-ups in the morning and in the after noon, shaman endurance training (also called 'see-how-long-your-Furyoku-can-hold-you-up-for-before-you-fall-down-in-a-pit-full-of-sharp-spikes' training), and besides all that, I've had to take meditation (NAP TIME!), mythology, shape-shifting, martial arts (Tabitha trained me in the ways of the ninja), swordsmanship, archery, Itako training (my class was beginner's priestess training, so I just know the basics), and one of my favorites; divination.

According to Tabitha, the art of divination was the special skill of the goddess of water and ice, so it was important to emphasize that skill in my training. I can read fortune in the sacred cards of Gali as well as normal tarot cards, crystal ball, and palm. But most importantly of all, I can read fortune in nature. In the water and the wind. In the earth and fire. 'A rare skill.' Said Aunt Tabitha. So that's how divination became my special skill. After shapeshifting, of course. But all that excruciating training had taken its toll. I ready for the Tournament, even though it starts in nine months. Right now it's autumn, the Tournament starts next summer, but recently (Zoe- "You mean for the past two years?") I've been looking forward to something else.

Today was the day we left for the Sahara Desert, where I would meet my teammates for the shaman fight; the goddesses of air and wind, and the goddess of earth and stone.

Of course I hadn't forgotten Anna. Not by a mile. One of my goals in this crazy getaway was to find Anna after six years. Am I really as crazy as Zoe says I am?

"KEY!" Zoe snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Where were you?"

"Oh—off in dreamland."

"Come back to Blizzard and me. Look at where we are." I did, and I didn't notice anything peculiar.

"What is it?" I asked. Zoe sighed.

"Each day we go closer the coast." She accused.

"Zoe! You know that the ocean calls to me." I said poetically.

"Yeah but remember to keep your mind on firm ground when flying. The ocean is your place, freedom calls from there, I know, I hear it too, but people need you here. We can't let you be swept off to the sea with all your dolphin friends... that settles it! From now on, I'm calling you 'Ariel the little mermaid' Awww! Isn't that cute?" She teased. I pushed her off Blizzard and she fell a few twenty feet before flying back up in her blue wolf form.

"I HATE it when you do that!" She complained.

"You deserved it..." I replied, pretending to be offended. Zoe didn't fall for it. We've been inseparable since I was seven. Now I was thirteen... I turned fourteen in May, but it was still October, so I erased all thoughts of presents from my head.

"Let's head back to the village." Called Zoe.

"Gotcha!" I whistled three sharp blasts into the rushing wind and gently tugged Blizzard's feathers. She did a loop in the air and headed back to the Kovu Village.

We landed in the middle of the center, by the totem pole. I jumped off Blizzard's back, followed by a very playful kangaroo.

"Zoe! Jeez! You ALWAYS choose the wrong shapes for the right moments! Right now, you COULD be something a little more helpful... like a monkey... WITH OPPOSABLE THUMBS..." She giggled and turned into a beautiful golden tamari, and then climbed on my shoulder as I entered Tabitha's cabin. She met me with toast in her hand.

"Coffee?" She asked as I took the toast.

"Coffee me no likee" I answered, wolfing down the toast.

"You should start packing, we're leaving the village in a couple of hours."

"Sure, I will. But who's paying the plane there?"

"The military. Sort of like a 'present' for the avalanche commotion. You can get a lot by threats." She said, flipping a page of her book.

"We KNOW that don't we Key?" whispered Zoe.

"I HEARD THAT!" She hurled an unbuttered toast at Zoe, who dodged it. "Now go pack or we'll be late!" I climbed the stairs two at a time and barreled into my room. I didn't have that many personal belongings, but I had enough so that I couldn't take all of them with me. "Pack lightly when you're gonna be walking" was another one of Tabitha's favorite quotes. Zoe digged a blue Jansport backpack out of the closet, and then started handing me the objects I asked her to.

"Ok, I'll need 3 of my Kovu outfits, my 15 feet rope. Yes we'll need it. My camera... my blue dress. You know! The one that's blue... up to you ankles with white fox fur on the rim. That's the one! Ok... what else... take two Kovu headbands... don't forget a comb, brush and scrunchies... toothbrush... three pairs of jeans... the black one shoulder shirt... the blue one... the T-shirt with the star... my blue towel... that bikini. Hey! It might be hot! Those sandals, those tennis shoes and... and those two skirts. No it's not slutty. Oh! Forgive me for not taking your expert advice on skirts Zoe. No I was being sarcastic. Anyways, bring the star earrings. Oh never mind, I'm wearing them. Uh... Oh yeah! Binoculars. And... that's it?"

"Don't forget the REAL important stuff."

"No way I will. I was just keeping it for last. Ok, the sacred cards of Gali... the lucky winged wolf... and that's it! No, I'll wear the Nevermeltice and the hoverboard. It won't fit anyways." We gave my room one more look.

"It sure looks... empty..." said Zoe sadly.

"I'm gonna miss this room." I said as we closed the door and went downstairs. Tabitha was waiting impatiently by the floor of the stairs, suitcase in one hand and a black box with a handle on the other.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the box.

"Surprise." We walked outside and headed to the center of the village. There, to my surprise was what seemed like the whole village. They all shook my hand and/or patted me in the back and/or ruffled my hair. Some even cried. The kennel man even brought Winka to say goodbye. Finally, Kinaki parted from the crowd to say goodbye.

"My girl! My Kigali! Oh, how you've grown!" She exclaimed, giving me a bear hug. "You've become such a beautiful young lady! And an excellent shaman! Tabitha's best disciple! You have made this village proud and honored to be the home of the future Shaman Queen. You'll return and visit won't you?"

"This is my home." I promised. She laughed a wrinkly smile.

"Of course! Of course! You have changed this village. Tala would be so proud of you! Now go! Claim your throne!" I walked away awkwardly, waving every now and then. Zoe strutted on my shoulder as a colorful macaw. Blizzard walked ostrich-style beside me, chirping contently.

"How are we getting to the plane?"

"It will be on a village nearby. We'll take a dog sled. Someone will go there to pick them up after we leave." Surely enough, at the edge of the village, there was a man waiting with a dog sled and a team on nine dogs. We took the sled and glided across the tundra.

"Key! Look!" A wolf Zoe pointed her nose at the sky as she ran by the sled. I looked up and sighed. The northern lights flashed in the sky above.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek as the northern lights danced and tinted the sky a beautiful variety of colors. The north was my home. I would miss the howling of the wolves, and the nights where the aurora borealis danced with the stars. I would miss the wild call of the ocean against the untamed tundra. I would miss the north more than I had thought.

"We're here." Said Tabitha gently, probably aware of my sadness. We slid down the main path of the tiny Alaskan village. We stopped at the kennels and dropped off the team, and then walked to a gigantic shed. An old man with aviator goggles greeted us cheerfully and led us to our plane. It was... cozy. And small... and old... Tabitha laughed nervously.

"Umm... are you sure this thing will fly...?"

"'Course. Flew for 25 years. Don't worry about a thing. This baby took on the most dangerous blizzards with err... minimal damage."

"Oh. That is very reassuring." Tabitha trembled as we climbed the stairs to the plane. I laughed. I liked planes, because I absolutely LOVE to fly, but Tabitha is afraid of heights. She doesn't trust planes, and of course she had a hard time when we traveled around the world. Half the time we flew from one place to another. Half the time she ended up puking on the plane. Very gross. The plane vibrated as the old man started the engine.

"Buckle up!" We quickly obeyed as he rolled the plane out of the shed and then into the sky. Blizzard took off next to the plane. They were about the same size. I signaled her to fly higher than the plane and to stay out of sight. Zoe curled up in my lap as a fuzzy raccoon. Tabitha looked for a barf bag.

"Hey Tabitha, are we going to the Sahara in this little plane?"

"NO! I- I mean, no, Kigali. We'll stop at the Juneau international airport and take a REAL plane to Cairo." She said. Later on she fell into an uneasy sleep, but I didn't. I just watched the snowy ground from my little window and fingered my itako bead bracelet sadly. Zoe just snored loudly.

We landed on Juneau an hour later, but didn't get to go out and play tourist. We made a connection flight to another plane, to Cairo. It was very crowded in the airport. Zoe had to hide in my pocket as a mouse, because animals weren't allowed loose in the airport, and even if she became invisible to humans, one never knows if there is a psycho police man nearby with a bit more sixth sense than the rest. Better safe than sorry. Yup, you guessed it; another one of Tabitha's quotes. It took a long time to get on the plane. We had to wait for a whole hour to get on the plane, and the waiting room was crowded. AND Zoe was being annoying.

"SHUT UP ZOE!" I whispered forcefully.

"Well, you're not the one that's stuffed in a tiny pocket."

"Key, I'm going to the rest room. Do you need to go?" asked Tabitha, breaking up the argument.

"Been there, done that."

"Ok, I'll be right back." She got up and walked away, soon swallowed by the crowd.

"Hey Key? There's some guys looking at you funny." I followed her gaze and saw a group of boys around my age walking over to me, malicious smiles on their faces. I sighed as the 'leader' sat beside me.

"What's up sweetie? All alone?"

"Not anymore..." I rolled my eyes. He reached for my hand, but I moved it away and smiled at him.

"Look, dude. If you don't scram right now, I'll have to hurt you." He laughed. His friends joined him.

"YOU! Hurt ME??? You little beauties aren't strong. Quit bluffing." Zoe snickered at his misreading. He grabbed my hand forcefully and pulled me to him. I immediately crushed his hand with mine. He yelled out in pain.

"OW! You bitch!" His friends reached for me, but found an empty seat.

"Where did she go???"

"I'm behind you morons!" They turned towards me, but found a bloody nose instead. They yelled out in shock and bolted off. I sighed.

"I wish they would have left when I warned them."

"What was their problem anyways?" asked Zoe, grooming her mousy hair.

"Whose problem?" Tabitha was back.

"Oh... uh... the flight attendant... yeah... um... never mind." I laughed nervously. Tabitha shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok. Come on, military got us first class seats. We get to enter the plane before anyone else." We walked through the boarding tunnel and into the plane. Definitely an improvement. Leather seats, crystal glasses, gourmet food, TV choice... TV yeah. Tabitha had a TV, but no cable... or satellite, so we only had five channels. I watched cartoons and Disney movies for the first four hours of flight, then I fell asleep, but I think Zoe watched TV the whole 14-hour flight. Talk about cartoon obsessed.

Tabitha shook me awake as people were getting off the plane.

"Key! We're here, Kiddo. Zoe! For goodness sake, TURN OFF THAT TV!!! We're in Cairo! Come on people! We don't have all day! Do you want me to carry you off the plane?"

"That would be sort of nice." I said as I grabbed my backpack and climbed off the plane, still half-asleep. As soon as I got out of the airport, I was hit by a wave of hot air. Yea, it's Egypt all right. I took off my cloak and stuffed it in my backpack. Tabitha did the same, and then called forwards a Taxi.

"We want to go to the west wing of the air port." She demanded to the driver.

"Wha...?"

"Would you rather walk?" I shook my head no. "We need to catch a helicopter. Let's just say that the Leppa Tribe lives deep into the Sahara Desert. A helicopter will get us there in half an hour."

We climbed on the helicopter, which took off in noisy commotion.

"Hey! Aunt Tabitha? Where's Blizzard?" I asked, looking out the window. "I sense her, but I can't see her."

"Well, you DID tell her to stay out of sight. She must be above the clouds, away from sight. And heat." She added, wiping her brow. I shrugged my shoulders and looked out the window. We had left the urban part of Cairo and were quickly nearing the vast deserts. It was very different from the tundra.

"A lesson I might not have taught you too well is to keep an open mind," stated Tabitha, "You are extremely adaptive by nature, but you don't accept most change without a fight, and a good one at that. Sometimes you can be very stubborn, Kigali."

"Gee, thanks."

"Just remember that change is like the ocean. It slowly, but surely bashes against the rock, therefore changing it. One cannot stop change; one cannot run away from it. If you do, it will catch you later on in your life."

"I don't run away from change."

"I know. You fight it. But the best way to deal with change is to flow along with it. And to relax. You are too tense, Kigali. I know it was difficult leaving the village. It is your home. But many good things are on the way."

"And bad."

"Is the glass half empty or half full?" She asked rhetorically. I thought about it.

"Half full."

"Then everything will be OK. Don't worry Kiddo. You're an optimistic child. Just remember to see the silver lining in all those gray clouds" She patted my head. I hate it when she does that.

"Miss? We're getting ready to land." The pilot announced.

"Perfect. Land in the center square." The pilot nodded and pulled down on the flight control. Tabitha turned to me. "Here, put this on." She handed me a silver chocker-necklace with a sapphire in its center. I thanked her and put it on. I looked out the window, expecting to see more deserts, but instead, I saw a gigantic oasis, with sparkling water and green foliage everywhere. There were tepees set up all over the place with gold markings that glinted in the hot sun. It was like a jewel.

"Welcome to the Leppa Village." Announced Tabitha.

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So? How was that? Yay! Kigali's grown!

Next chapter she meets her Shaman Tournament partners. Tell me what you think!

Next Chapter- The Reunion of the Goddesses


	15. The Reunion of the Goddesses

Chapter fifteen's up! Thanx so much for all the reviews! You guys are awesome!

Here we introduce the other two goddesses, which are based on two very dear friends of mine, much like Kigali is based on me (Believe it or not, lol)

Oh, yeah, and she'll meet Hao SOON, so hang tight!

Disclaimer- Fifteen chapters later and same answer. Noooooooooooo!!!

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 The Reunion of the Goddesses o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

I was excited and nervous at the same time. My stomach flipped as the helicopter landed in a jerky kind of way. I stepped out of the helicopter, followed by Zoe in her regular winged-wolf form and a slightly green Tabitha. I swung my hoverboard over my backpack and tied it to the handle. Then I looked at the people in the front of the welcoming crowd. Two of them stood out like violets among roses. It's not like they were dressed funny or anything like that, it's just that they looked familiar. Two familiar faces in an unknown multitude. I had never in my life seen them before, but they looked so familiar I could swear I knew them.

They were two girls exactly my age. The one named Ramissa had skin as dark as the night with green markings in her cheeks, arms, legs, and stomach, like me, except hers were rectangles instead of triangles-like slashes like mine. She had big, emerald-green eyes with stylish eyelashes. Her beautiful black hair reached up to her mid-back, with light bangs and two thin braids that laid gracefully over her shoulders. Two black metal bands held each of them together. She wore tribal clothes that were predominantly green and black. They fit tight around her tall form. She also wore an onyx necklace around her graceful neck. The girl's spirit, a black jaguar stood protectively behind her. It was as black as night and had markings like Zoe had, except they were a neon green. Two black bat wings grew from her back. Her eyes were as green as emeralds.

The other girl was the exact opposite. I knew her name was Asali. She had extremely long blond hair. She was very thin and short, so that she looked a bit younger than the other girl. She had blue eyes, but not an oceany sapphire blue like mine. Her looked strangely blue-gray, like glass. Her skin was as white as snow, not a tanned like mine, and she had pink markings instead of blue or green, which were curved in graceful spirals with dots in their center that looked like pink beauty spots. A gold necklace with an amber glittered in the desert sun. Her clothes were light and mostly yellow and pink (mine were primarily blue and purple). This girl's spirit was a palomino horse with a flowing, white mane. It had pink markings and butterfly wings sprouting from its back. It's eyes were a bright pink too.

As I stepped off the helicopter, something came over me, I don't know, but suddenly I didn't feel nervous anymore. When they saw me, their faces split into two familiar smiles.

"KIGALI!!!" They said at the same time.

"ASALI!!! RAMISSA!!!!!!!!" I squealed and ran to them as fast as I could, dropping my backpack halfway there. I hugged them as tight as I could. I have no idea how I knew their names. I have no idea how they knew mine, but that wasn't important. We were together again. After five hundred years, I had been reunited with my friends again. I let tears flow down my cheeks. I felt Asali sob. I heard Ramissa sniff.

The crowd cheered and 'awww'ed. Tabitha stepped off the helicopter and headed towards the two women that had been standing with Ramissa and Asali.

"Come on girls. I've arranged spare rooms in the palace." We ran after them, smiling happily. I put my arms around both their shoulders. Asali laughed

"We have a lot of catching up to do, girls."

****

We couldn't talk much, since our destination was very close by, but when we got there, I saw Ramissa's jaw fall open. I felt my own reach the floor.

"You live HERE???" We yelled at the same time. We were standing in front of a humongous Egyptian palace. Like the ones you see in Aladdin or something. It was made out of gleaming white marble and probably had 20 bedrooms and at least 50 bathrooms. Asali laughed at our reaction.

"Yes, I do."

"Aww! No fair! Me and my mom had to live in a normal house!" Complained Ramissa.

"Yeah! Me too. I had to share a cabin with my aunt. AND I had no cable. They gasped in horror.

"NO CABLE???" I nodded gravely. They laughed.

"Yes, the mansion has satellite, but all the water comes from the underground spring that nourishes this oasis. My mom and dad have brought me here when I was little. When they found out I had shaman powers, they were convinced I had to have the right training, so they did some research and found out about a small tournament in Egypt to find the goddess of air and wind, so then they did some MORE research and found out I actually stood a chance at it, so they brought me here and I won. That was when I was... umm... around eight I think. My parents live in the US, but Lanai, the priestess of the village became like a mother to me since. I got used to this place pretty quickly."

"Who wouldn't!" I exclaimed as we entered the beautiful palace.

"Yeah, the Leppa Tribe raises the finest Arabian horses in Africa. I'll take you there later on. You'll love them." She said proudly. "So what about you Ramissa? Where did you come from?"

"Well, the priestess in my village was actually my mom, Riana, so I was born and raised in the Orana Tribe. It's located in the deepest rainforests of western Africa. To say the truth, my mom didn't even know I was a shaman until I regrew a whole section of our rainforest with my Furyoku. Then she trained me for the coming tournament to search for the goddess of earth and stone, and as you probably guessed, I won. What about you Key?"

"Well... um... after mom died, my dad abandoned me in a college for five years, but then I ran away and found my mom's village, which happened to be nearing the tournament to find the goddess of water and ice. I won and moved in with the priestess of the Kovu Village, who happened to be my aunt, Tabitha. So I grew up in the northern tundra, where the aurora borealis lights the skies. Cool huh?" I kept my mouth shut about Anna. My friends were quiet for a second.

"Sorry about your parents." Uttered Ramissa.

"It's all right. One gets used to it." Zoe waved her apologies away. I rolled my eyes. Zoe. We walked into a large room that had a canopied futon as a bed and was decorated with gold and yellow silk.

"This is my room. I convinced Lanai to let us share one. You don't need any of the other guest rooms when you can have mine."

"Wow, thanks Asali!" I said, bouncing on the futon. She sat next to me. Ramissa fell back on a beanbag chair.

"Ok! We've got to present our spirits! Who wants to go first?"

"ME! ME! HERE! PICK ME!" Zoe jumped around. I slapped my forehead. Ramissa and Asali laughed.

"Ok everyone, this is my spirit friend, Zoe. Her real name is Kazura, but that, unlike her, is too mature. I'm just kidding Zoe!" She shapeshifted into a goose and honked noisily at me. More laughing.

"She can shapeshift too!" remarked Asali. "Mine does the same." She pushed the timid, butterfly-winged horse to the middle of the room. "This is my spirit guardian, Denali." Denali shapeshifted into a white bunny and hid behind Asali. "Don't worry, she's just shy. Once she gets to know you, she won't stop talking. Believe me." We turned to Ramissa expectantly. She pointed at the elegant black jaguar with the bat wings.

"This is Riomi, my spirit companion. She can also shapeshift, but doesn't really like to." Riomi purred as Ramissa tickled her chin.

"So, what are your special abilities?" I asked them, "I have two. Shapeshifting and fortune-telling. Divination."

"You can shapeshift???" Asked Asali, surprised.

"Yup. Can't you?"

"No. Only my spirit can, but my special ability is potions and medicine making. My mom's a nurse." We turned to Ramissa. She frowned.

"I—I haven't found my special skill yet. I know I should have, but I will find it soon."

"I'll help you Missy! We'll find your skill together!" I said overoptimistically.

"Yeah! Me too!" Asali punched the air. Ramissa laughed and shook her head.

"You guys are so lame!" She joked. There was a knock in the door and a rattlesnake slithered in, followed by a pretty lady with short, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. Ramissa stopped laughing immediately and jumped up on the futon behind me.

"Snake!" She yelped. Riomi sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, Missy. It's just one of Lanai's spirits. Yeah, and this is Lanai, the priestess of the Leppa Tribe." She waved at the lady.

"Ok girls, I know your exited to see each other, but we've got to get some business out of the way before you get to relax. We are having a meeting right now, if you'll join us." We stood up and headed towards the door. I was used by Ramissa as a human shield as we passed the snake spirit. We walked down endless halls and up steep staircases.

"Don't you ever get lost here?" I asked Asali.

"I grew up here. I know every secret passageway and hideaway. Even the one that leads to Lanai's room." She grinned mischievously as we laughed and followed her through the maze-like palace. This was going to get interesting.

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So what did you think?? Please review and tell me!

Sorry for the cliffhanger-type ending. I'll update real soon.

Next Chapter- The Birth of a Sisterhood 


	16. The Birth of a Sisterhood

Chapter 16! Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone! I feel so supported!

To Moonbeam- Thanx for all the suggestions, girl! Although the sisterhood is not like the initiation, and more casual friendship than blood-oath type of thing... you'll see what I mean. Thanx for all your help!

Disclaimer- Yay! I own Kigali, Asali, and Ramissa! But not Shaman King. Oh well! I'll settle for the three goddesses

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 The Birth of a Sisterhood 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Last Chapter... "I grew up here. I know every secret passageway and hideaway. Even the one that leads to Lanai's room." Asali grinned mischievously as we laughed and followed her through the maze-like palace. This was going to get interesting.

"We are here." 'here' was one of the highest towers in the palace. It had a large brass door with doorknobs in the shape of wild horses. Asali shivered and grabbed my hand.

"I haven't been here since the initiation." She whispered fearfully. At this we all shuddered. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with that particular experience. Lanai opened the door with a creak. It was a circular room with a glowing fire sparkling in the center. Small cushions were set down for us.

"Relax. This isn't another initiation. We just chose the room for the privacy." Tabitha of course. We relaxed a bit as we sat down in the cushions. Zoe climbed on my shoulder in her golden tamari form.

"We have called this meeting to give you some information you will need. This hasn't been taught to you yet because it was on a strict need-to-know basis. Listen to Riana." Riana, the priestess of the Orana Tribe, stood up. She was a beautiful lady that looked a lot like Ramissa. She spoke in a clear, melodious voice. It was the voice of a true storyteller. It had to be her mother.

"Listen my children, for I will tell you about the one whom you have been trained to defeat! The one who has claimed the throne in the last tournament! The resurrection of the god of fire! This time, you three beautiful girls will put a stop to his wickedness, but before you do, I must tell you about him.

"In this lifetime, the god of fire goes by the name of Hao Asakura." _Asakura?_ I had heard that name before. Anna.

"_Asakura... in Izumo" She yelled out of the open window._

"_ANNA!!!" The car rushed away, taking my soul sister away with it. I tasted the bitter taste of failure in my mouth..._

The memories came rushing back with startling force, but I managed to keep my posture. Oh god, what if Anna had been relocated with my archenemy and I had been wasting time all these years while she was being tortured to death??? Horrible images flashed in front of me.

"Key!" Zoe whispered and gripped my shoulder, pinching my skin lightly. That brought me back to earth and to Riana's next words.

"Hao was born in the Patch Village, the cradle of the shaman tournament. But never in his dreams did he imagine that is soul would be split in two at birth." She paused.

"So... what does that mean?" Asked Ramissa, but Asali was the first one to figure it out.

"Twins! Hao has a twin that has part of his soul."

"Exactly. Twins there were. One was Hao Asakura... and the other was a boy named Yoh Asakura. At birth, their grandparents were present to destroy the abomination of Hao before he became unstoppable, but they didn't know which one of the twins to destroy, so they decided to kill both. Just when they were about to strike... the spirit of fire showed up and saved the twin that was Hao. I am aware you are familiar with that, because in one way or another your spirit saved you when you first met. Anyways, Hao was safe. But so was Yoh. He has lived with his grandparents, training for the Tournament. But Hao cannot let Yoh live. He needs his soul back. The meeting place for the preliminaries of the Tournament this year will be Tokyo, Japan." _Japan_! That's where Anna was! But then Tabitha started to speak.

"Ok girls, listen up. You will be a team for the shaman tournament. As you know, there will be preliminaries in Tokyo, and then the finals in the Patch Village. Listen well to this, it's very important that if they pair you against each other in the preliminaries that you tie. All three of you must be in the Tournament until the very last final. Of course you'll make it to the final. And that battle will probably be one on one against Hao, so then you will decide in one of you to fight against him. You will basically have two very important jobs; destroy Hao, and protect Yoh. But you have time! No worries." She signaled Lanai to speak.

"The plans for more recent events are also very simple. You will be staying in the palace until this alarm clock goes off." She held up Tabitha's black box.

"It's a bomb!" joked Zoe. We all laughed.

"No Zoe, not a bomb. Look." She opened the box wide for all to see. Three eggs lay quietly in a small nest of hay.

"Eggs!"

"But they're all different!"

"Of course they are, they aren't the same birds." Said Lanai, "Each one of you will get an egg of a bird of prey that matches your personality. Asali will get a red-tail hawk." She said, handing her a creamy, white egg. "Ramissa will get a horned owl." She handed Ramissa a tanned egg with white speckles. "And Kigali will get a Gyrfalcon." She handed me a white egg with dark red markings. A Gyrfalcon!!! I had seen those in the tundra. They were one of the only birds of prey that lived in the artic. They were pure white with black in the tip of their feathers. Tabitha winked at me. I laughed.

"These eggs will hatch in about a month, but you will have to warm them up and rotate them so that they survive. If they die, you will not get another one. When they hatch, you will be the first person that they see, so that your image is imprinted on them, and you will have to teach them to fly seven weeks after hatching. When all of your hawks are able to fly, you will be released to Japan. Meanwhile, you will stay here in the palace and train for the Tournament. I think you'll enjoy yourselves."

"So in around two months we will leave for Tokyo?" They nodded.

"There is an incubation room in the north wing of the palace. I will put some cots there, because you will be spending most of your time there. Prepare for a long wait, it will strengthen your patience. Now go to the incubating room, a maid there will give you the basics in egg-care."

****

Asali led us to the incubation room in the opposite side of the palace. We opened the big, brass door slowly and peeked into our new home. The incubation room was a hot room with large, with high ceilings and small windows near the top. The room seemed to be divided in two halves, even though there were no boundaries. One side had a gigantic stone fireplace against the wall with a large, black cauldron resting in the scarlet flames. Wood was stacked beside the hearth. Close to the fire, there were two big boxes raised in the air like tables. They were filled with soft hay and other nesting materials. They were both empty.

The other side of the room had already been prepared for us. Three futons had been lined up against the back wall and Ramissa's belongings as well as mine had been brought and put on a low shelf near the beds. A large round table had been set up close by with three chairs and numerous piles of books on it. We stepped cautiously into the room.

"You... must... be... the... new... occupants... of... the... incubation... room... Welcome..." We jumped out of our skins. An old lady had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She spoke in the slowest voice imaginable. She motioned us to sit down at the table.

"I... will... go... over... the... incubation... procedures... with... you... But... first... put... your... eggs... in... the... incubation... tables..." We obeyed and sat back down in the table. I had a feeling that this would take much longer than it was supposed to.

I was right.

It took the old lady three hours to go over material that I could have gone over in twenty minutes. It took my quota of patience for the next decade to keep from screaming and running away as fast as my legs could take me. Ramissa fell asleep halfway through, so when the old lady was gone, we had to catch her up on it.

"The eggs have to be rotated every two hours, so we'll have to take shifts at night. No falling asleep ok? These eggs depend on us. We have to kindle the fire when it gets below the hatching temperature." I said, pointing at the thermometers in each table. "And we can't leave the door open, or the room will cool down. I'll take the first shift tonight ok? You guys sleep." And so it was the beginning of an extremely long month. We stayed in the incubation room 95 of the time, and when we left, someone always had to stay behind to guard the eggs. In the long hours we were stuck in the incubation room, we practiced our shaman skills and studied from the books Lanai had left us. My fortune-telling skills were also an endless source of entertainment for the three of us, but we mostly talked and lay around on our beds, very much as we were doing now.

"Let me see your hand, Asali." She did as she was told. I looked at the lines in her hands. To most people, they're just lines, but to me, they're full of meaning. Every day their significance changes to tell you something new about the person. "What have we here...? A boy in your near future that will take your unwilling heart... I see an apprentice... and... you have a brother? Tell me about him!"

"You're good! Yes, I have an older brother named Todd. He doesn't have ANY sixth sense whatsoever, so he gets jealous that I'm a shaman." She laughed.

"I have a sister." Mentioned Ramissa. "Her name's Sonika. She's only two years younger than me, but she is traveling around with my aunt. She's an actress in popular commercials, but I think she'll star in a movie soon. She has shaman powers too, and three spirits, but she uses them to act, not fight."

"Wow! I've always dreamed of being a singer... maybe a rock star... then I could sing for the world!" I said, looking up at the roof.

"Hey Key, do YOU have any siblings?" Asked Asali. I sighed.

"Yeah. I have an older sister. All I know about her is that she had shaman abilities. I don't remember her, since she ran away from the college when I was two." The usual uncomfortable silence followed. I broke it with a change of subject. "Hey you guys! Maybe we could start a band and sing when we travel to Japan! We could cash in big bucks!" That got their attention.

"A band?"

"Us?"

"Yeah! Do you play any instruments?"

"I can do the drums!" Offered Ramissa.

"I can do bass. Lanai bought me one for my eleventh birthday. What can you do?"

"I know how to play the electric guitar. And we can all sing!" I said.

"What will we be called?"

"We can be called the Angels!" Suggested Asali.

"I think we should be The Sisterhood, 'cause we're sisters!" Said Ramissa, leaning back against the wall.

"No, check this out, we can be... The Sisterhood of Angels!" I announced. They nodded in approval.

"Sounds good to me! The Sisterhood of Angels it is!"

****

We spent the rest of that month ditching books and using out shapeshifting weapons as musical instruments, and I have to admit, we were pretty good. Around three days before predicted hatching time, Ramissa's egg started to crack, and finally, the next day, became a fluffy owl chick, which she named Luna for her big, round eyes.

Mine hatched a week after that. A tiny, white chick came out of my egg. I named her Liberty. Asali's was the one that took the longest to hatch. Like ours, it cracked to reveal a tiny white fluff chick, whose name became Russet. Unluckily, that didn't quite save us from the incubation room, but it DID give us something to do. Each one of us had to have a different nest, because the chicks had to imprint on their owners. That ALSO meant we got a heck of less sleep.

When the chicks started to grow their first plumage, we were ecstatic. We moved the chicks from the incubation room to the mews, a whole building for birds of prey. I was especially proud of my gyrfalcon. They come in three color varieties; dark, gray, and white. Mine already had snow-white feathers growing from her wings. As soon as they were fully feathered, the birds started to jump off the nests and flapping their wings like crazy, so we took them outside and, well, you know the drill. In three days, they were flying like kites in the Arabian wind. Two months had passed. The alarm clock went off. It was time for us to leave.

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So? What did you guys think? Here I sort of explained some things and introduced the priestesses of the Orana and Leppa tribes!

By the way, I just love the idea of falconers, so I couldn't help having that in my story! Lol! I don't really know how long their eggs take to hatch so I estimated for the sake of their story!

Anyhow, review if you can!

Next Chapter- The Hijacked Balloon


	17. The Hijacked Balloon

Yay! I'm glad you guys liked last chapter!

I got the idea of a band from me and my friends, since we've got one too! I, like Kigali, play the guitar.

So, I hope you like this chappie! Review if you have time, k?

Disclaimer- Me no ownee Shaman King

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 The Hijacked Balloon 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lanai gave us our falconer licenses and instructions of our trip. We had to cross the Sahara and once on the coast, use Oversoul to get to Japan. "The fastest way" she said. We were going to cross the Sahara in a hot-air balloon, which was the safest way to go, but we all chose backup methods of transportation to go in. I took my hoverboard, Asali took a small foldable hang glider (She controls wind) and Ramissa, after much indecision, took a hang glider like Asali's (Asali would control her wind too). We packed everything and loaded the balloon with water (Ramissa's idea of course).

I said goodbye to Tabitha with a smile. I promised her I would make our Tribe proud, and that I'd come back when I became the Shaman Queen, if not sooner. She laughed and said, "We'll see. We'll see." I hugged her and each of her spirits, especially Tundra, the wolf, who had become a good friend of mine during Tabitha's extreme trainings.

Even Blizzard, to Asali and Ramissa's dismay, came to say goodbye. They had never seen her before, but they got along just fine. We climbed on the balloon and let the sandbags go. We waved as we rose into the cloudless day, then Asali called forth a breeze and we were off. It was a very comfortable balloon. It was pink and violet in color and the basket was big enough for all three of us to lay down side-by-side comfortably plus our backpacks. And Ramissa's water.

"Hey, umm... Ramissa? Why all the water?" I asked, lifting out of the way the twentieth gallon of water. It was our third day in the air, and I must admit, either the loss of personal space or the heat was getting to me.

"Aren't you scared to die of thirst? Here? In the vast Sahara?" She said dramatically.

"Not really, I tend not to get short on water, if you know what I mean." I called back, cupping my hands and letting water fill them magically. I let Liberty drink out of them. She was perched in one of the sides of the balloon and looked very thirsty. I moved on to hydrate the other birds. Asali dug through her backpack.

"Whatcha looking for?" I asked her. She took out a CD player.

"This." She held it up for us to see.

"No way! You get a CD player! I always wanted one of those!" Complained Ramissa.

"Ok...wanna listen...?" they manage to fit both their heads into the headphones. I shook my head and turned to Zoe, who slept calmly in my arms as a sweet leopard kitten. I sighed and climbed on top of a wooden box of water bottles to see over the high walls of the basket. I have to confess that I had gotten used to the desert. It wasn't as dead as it first appeared. I watched the sun set over the sand dunes, creating a mystical pink in the sky. I sighed again. It was very beautiful. It sort of looked like the northern lights... if you narrowed your eyes and tilted your head to the left a bit.

"I think Tabitha's right." I told a snoozing Liberty. "I'm too stubborn. I should just get over it and accept the desert as my new temporary home." She chirped sleepily in response. She was like a mini-Blizzard. I laughed at the thought and started to climb down the box when something caught my eye. It was a tiny, twinkling light. I snatched the binoculars out of my bag.

"What is it?" asked Asali.

"I see something." I put the binoculars to my eyes and aimed them towards the lights. There were now two... three... ten... twenty... forty... eighty...

"What do you see?" Ramissa asked me. I put down the binoculars and rubbed my eyes.

"I don't know..."

"It might be a mirage, you know." Offered Asali. At this point, Zoe had woken up.

"It looks like a castle. The lights are the windows." She concluded. Everyone leaned over the edge of the basket for a look. The sun was now setting right behind it, giving its profile away.

"It's a palace!" Exclaimed Asali.

"But I thought Lanai said there were no other palaces around."

"There aren't. This one must have been hidden in some way..." Asali bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, concerned. When Asali bites her lip, it's a bad sign. A very bad sign usually followed by some kind of scream-and-run-for-it kind of risk.

"Let's just say that most tribes that habituate the Sahara aren't as friendly as ours and—"

"Let's just say you're right! LOOK!" Ramissa pointed downwards. We leaned over the basket again. I gasped. There was a cloud of sand following us.

"It's a caravan! Those things specialize in bringing down balloons like this one. Hurry up! Get in the center of the balloon. Kigali, tell Zoe to take the hawks to a safe spot until you call for her! Ramissa let the sandbags go! I'll try to get us out of here as fast as possible." Asali gave the orders fast and smoothly.

"Well, at least someone knows what she's doing." Said Ramissa. We did our tasks as fast as possible. The balloon rose as we dropped the weighs and Zoe took off as an eagle, followed by three other birds of prey. But there was a slight detail we didn't count on. **BAM!** What the? **BAM!**

"Asali! They're shooting at us!!!" I yelled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll take us up in no time at all." She said positively, while waving her hands. The wind picked up. "We'll be up in a second." **POP! **

"Um... Asali? There's a hole in the balloon." Informed Ramissa.

"Ok, don't worry, we can still make it out! Just throw the water! It's weighing us down." We did as we were told, hurling the gallon-bottles of water at the caravan. Several of the freaky-looking men were struck and fell off their horses with a loud yell.

"HA! TAKE THAT!" I yelled. **POP!** Another hit! The balloon hissed as the air flowed out of the gaping bullet holes. The basket tipped over suddenly and Ramissa was thrown out of the basket.

"MISSY!" I grabbed her hand just in time. She was hanging from my hand, dangling right over the caravan.

"DON'T LOOK DOWN!!!" I yelled at her over Asali's howling wind. She looked down.

"AAAAHHHH! KEY!!! HE'S AIMING AT ME!!!!!!" He was. I tried to heave her into the basket, but I was halfway out myself, and gradually slipping as the basket became more lopsided.

"ASALI! HELP!" She grabbed my legs and heaved me in, but just as I was pulling Ramissa in, another pop was heard. Then another. The deflated balloon went down fast. With most of the air resistance gone, Asali's wind was pretty much useless. In fact, it had turned into a nasty sandstorm. The balloon collided to the ground with a huge crash. We poured out of it and into the sandstorm. I couldn't breathe! Sand everywhere!!! Sand in my mouth... in my ears... in my eyes... I couldn't see! I felt around for something and found my backpack and my hoverboard, but there was no sign of Asali or Ramissa.

"Hey! ASALI! RAMISSA!!! WHERE ARE Y—" Someone grabbed me from behind. Not them. I turned my hand to find a toothless, black-bearded man frowning at me. He covered my mouth with a piece of cloth and threw me on his horse. I lay there stunned for a second. And then I noticed we were galloping at full speed towards the palace. I saw several other horses by me, two of which had Ramissa and Asali thrown over their bare backs very much as I was right now. Some others had our few belongings. I groaned. There went the neighborhood.

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So? How was that? Lol, I think Ramissa's obsession to water's pretty funny. So yay! They're off to the Tournament... if they ever get there, lol. As you'll see in the next chapters, our girls can get into a lot of trouble.

Next Chapter- Of Crazy Sultans and Slutty Outfits


	18. Of Crazy Sultans and Slutty Outfits

Here's chapter eighteen!

Yes, slutty outfits, for lack of a better description... well, you'll see, lol. By the way, this part is mostly on Asali's POV. So enjoy!

Thanx to Moonbeam for her suggestions! I used one of them here!

Disclaimer- I don't own Shaman King or Moonbeam's tips

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 Of Crazy Sultans and Slutty Outfits 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

ASALI 

We were loaded off the horses and a guard took Ramissa and me by the arm and led us into the palace. I shot Ramissa a look. _Don't struggle. Do as you're told._ She nodded and calmly followed my lead. I was about to give Kigali the same look but it was too late. Four guards dragged in a screaming Kigali by her arms and legs. I sighed. Ramissa shook her head.

"If you don't put me down IMMEDIATELY I will personally torture you to death! LET ME GO! NOW!!!!!!!! Don't touch me! You don't know whom you're dealing with! LET ME GO!!!! If I had my Nevermeltice with me, you'd be REALLY sorry."

She screamed and twisted so much that she failed to see her surroundings. The palace was breathtaking. It was even more stunning than the one I had lived on for the past five years. We were led... and carried, into a large chamber with a gold throne. A boy our age sat there, his fingers intertwined in ambitious thoughts. He smiled superiorly when he saw us come in. We were released.

"Kneel before the Sultan!" The guard yelled. We did as we were told, and you would too if you had a curved sword pointed at curved sword pointed at the back of your head. It was the smart thing to do. Unluckily, Kigali wasn't in the smartest of moods. She stood as tall and defiant as she could.

"I will do no such thing!" She glared at the sultan. He seemed amused.

"What a spirited girl! Are these the ones in the balloon?"

"Yes, sir."

"Fabulous! Fabulous! We will keep them! Tell the maids to set up a room for them! And I have a special treat for the one with the brown and white hair. She shall be one of my wives!" This was too much for Ramissa and I. We jumped up from our kneeling positions.

"WHAT????!!!!!" We yelled. Kigali's blue eyes blazed. She was about to pounce on the sultan when the guards grabbed her arms and kicked her knees into a submissive position. She screamed in rage.

"Umm... no... err... your majesty... you wouldn't want to marry Kigali... erm... you see..." Ramissa looked at me for help.

"Yes! You wouldn't! She uh... can't cook at all!"

"And she is very problematic!"

"And she is a definite slob!"

"And she wastes money like Niagara Falls!"

"She'd make a horrible bride!"

"No one can control her!" The sultan looked more amused than ever.

"The ceremony will take place promptly at dawn!" He announced, laughing loudly. "Take them to their rooms and lock them there until the morning! And give them their belongings back." He waved as we were carried off the way we came, barely understanding the large, new vocabulary of curse words Kigali was presenting him with. As the sultan ordered, we were locked into a super-fancy room with a canopied-bed and a golden window, which was unfortunately too high off the ground. They slammed the door in Kigali's nose. She slammed the door with her fists.

"LET ME OUT!" She sank to her knees and started to cry. Ramissa and I lifted her off the ground and set her down gently on the bed. She cried on my shoulder.

"What's wrong hon?" I asked her, patting her hair.

"I—I will NOT be treated like an object! I can't go through with this again!" She sobbed.

"Again?" I asked suspiciously.

"We know that! Don't worry, we'll find a way out... somehow..." Said Ramissa, holding her hand.

"You DON'T understand!!! I already HAVE a fiancé!!!"

"WHAT?????!!!!!" I shook her. "What do you mean???"

"It was Tabitha's stupid idea." She cried. "She said that in my past life I had fallen in love with Hao, so she got me a fiancé to keep that from happening again!" We had all heard that story before. How the goddess of water and ice fell in love with the god of fire and failed to kill him in the last Shaman Tournament because of that reason 500 years ago. I felt a tear slid from my eye. It seemed too sad, a wild spirit like Kigali locked in the cage of obligation.

"Oh, sweetie! I'm so sorry!"

"Key! Don't worry, we'll convince that guy against marrying you!" Said Ramissa encouragingly. Kigali wiped her eyes and laughed softly.

"Yeah, like you did just now?" we laughed, momentarily forgetting our worries.

Knock Knock.

"The door." I announced

"COME IN!" Yelled Ramissa out of habit.

"Are you crazy??? What if it's the sultan??? What if he—"

"Dresses up as a woman? Yeah, I bet he would do that." Ramissa rolled her eyes and pointed to the door. A maid was sticking her head inside the room, looking curiously at us.

"What is it?" I asked suspiciously.

"The sultan had ordered me to bring you this," She set our backpacks down on our bed, "And this." She held out three folded outfits and handed them to each one of us. I got a light-pink one, Ramissa got a lilac one, and Kigali got a sky-blue one. We didn't unfold them until the maid hurried off and locked the door behind her as if we were convicted criminals.

"I'll change in the closet." Stated Ramissa.

"Are you really going to change?"

"The clothes we have now aren't made for the desert, especially Kigali's. Besides, they're all sandy." She turned around and walked to the walk-in closet. I went into the bathroom to change. I unfolded my outfit and wished I hadn't.

"I'M NOT WEARING THIS!" Came a yell from the room. Ramissa answered from the closet.

"YES YOU ARE! You're the one that needs it the most, so put it on. Come on, it can't be THAT bad. Mine isn't." I feared to see what Kigali's would look like. Mine wasn't THAT bad... just a bit... revealing. It was a light pink color and had a tiny skirt with pink 'pants' made from that sparkly Arabian see-through cloth under it. The top was a short-shirt with a pink vest, and it had a matching sparkly veil and cute little pink shoes. It WAS a bit cute. Ramissa was right, Kigali's couldn't be THAT bad. I walked out of the bathroom and caught sight of Ramissa. Hers looked exactly the same as mine except for its violet coloring.

"Where's Kigali?" I asked her. She sighed and pointed at the curtains by the window.

"She won't let me see her!"

"Kigali! Come on out! You'll look fine! They're not so bad!" I encouraged her.

"Mine doesn't look like yours!" She said angrily, and then she pulled back the curtains and stomped out. "LOOK!" We did. She was wearing a blue bikini with the sparkly see-through clothing lightly covering her legs and arms. She had a sky-blue cape around her shoulders and a silver tiara on her forehead. A veil covered her mouth and she wore blue sandals. Her hair was tied up in a cute ponytail with a silver band. "I LOOK like a whore!" She yelled.

"No you don't! You look adorable! Ok, so maybe it's a bit more err... revealing than ours, but it looks great on you! And now you won't be hot anymore!" She crossed her arms and grumbled something.

"Now, for our escape..." started Ramissa. That got our full attention. We looked at her and waited for her to go on. "What? I can't figure out EVERYTHING!"

"Ok, first thing's first. Call Riomi and Denali so we can fly out this window!" Said Kigali. Ramissa and I exchanged looks.

"We sent them with Zoe..."

"Aww great! Ok, it doesn't matter, we'll just use the hoverboard and hang gliders to soar out the window."

"Won't work, look!" Ramissa pointed out the window. It seemed to glow in a yellow kind of aura. "It's magically locked, like a force-field. If we go out that way, it will alert the shaman who configured the shield. We'll be caught."

"I have an idea! Look!" Kigali grabbed her Nevermeltice and ran to the door. She closed her eyes and pushed it against the keyhole. It instantly turned into a key and stuck fast into the opening, then it clicked and the door creaked open.

"Good job Key!" We gathered our backpacks and tiptoed out the room.

"Keep your weapons at hand!" whispered Ramissa. I grabbed my Nimbus Blade and turned it into a sharp, curved sword.

"This way!" We were now running down the halls, past galleries of fine art and rooms loaded with gold and jewels (which we had to drag Kigali out of).

"Hey Missy, don't you think it's a bit peculiar that we haven't seen even one guard?"

"No, I just think that these people are really stupid."

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! DO YOU REALLY THINK WE ARE THAT STUPID???" We whirled at the sound of the new voice. A guard was holding Kigali with a sharp blade against her throat and a hand on her mouth. The man who had laughed looked older (and uglier) than the others. He had a white beard and a strong aura.

"I AM THE SHAMAN FOR THIS TRIBE!!!! AND I WILL MAKE SURE YOU STAY PUT ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!"

"How about you shut up!!!!!" Yelled back Ramissa. The guard growled and tightened the blade around Kigali's throat. She glared fiercely at him but didn't struggle. The shaman took something out of his pocket. He showed it to us.

"I had a feeling you might be shamans, so I developed this." He held out a metal choker with Arabic inscriptions on it. He opened it and clasped it around Kigali's neck, and something inexplicable happened. Her aura vanished. Sure, it was still there, but it had become extremely weak. She sank to her knees and her Nevermeltice became a silver orb.

"What did you do to her???!!!" I yelled, going to Kigali's side. She swayed like she was going to faint.

"Isn't it wonderful??? That choker contains all shaman power. She had basically become a human."

"NO!!!" I yelled. But he just smiled maniacally and took another choker out of his pocket.

"ASALI!!! LOOK OUT!!!" Ramissa warned me. Too late. He snapped forwards and locked the choker around my neck. Wha...? My head exploded in pain as my powers were blocked from me. I felt as if I was going to throw up. Nimbus Blade turned into a crystal orb, but I didn't do it. I reached for it and tried to turn it into a sword, but it just stayed in its round, spherical form. NO!

"My powers!" I cried.

"It is beautiful, no? And no matter how much you struggle with it, you can't take it off! Only one with great shaman powers can make it unclasp." He laughed his sick laugh again. "The sultan will be SO pleased! Turbine," He briefly turned to a man behind him, who was completely covered in Bedouin clothing. "You know whom you must tell. Master Asakura will also be very pleased." The man immediately set off.

Asakura??? I MUST have heard wrong! But I didn't get much time to think about it, because the shaman turned his attentions to Ramissa.

"Now it's your turn!" He said, pointing at her.

"NO!!! RAMISSA!!! RUN!!!!! RUN NOW!!!!!!" Yelled Kigali, who had mostly recovered. "We'll manage to get out, but you can't get caught! Take my hoverboard and run!!!!!" Of course! Without my wind, Ramissa wouldn't be able to fly the hang glider, but Kigali's hoverboard could work!

"Yea! Go for it Missy! RUN!!!" I yelled. Ramissa grabbed the hoverboard, her backpack and shattered through a window just as the guards had figured out that she still had shaman powers.

"No!" Yelled the shaman. He had been distracted for a second, and that's all Kigali needed. She grabbed a folded hang glider and smashed him in the head. The hang glider snapped in two and the shaman was knocked out. But the guards were not.

"Come on!!!" Kigali grabbed the backpacks and my arm. I was still dazed by the effects of the choker, but that didn't stop me from getting up and running after Kigali as fast as my legs could take me. We scrambled outside the palace with the guards on our tails.

"THERE!" called Kigali, pointing at some horses that had been tied up by the gate. "GO! TAKE THE BAGS AND RUN FOR IT!" she shoved them in my arms and pushed me on a horse. "I'll hold the guards off. Ramissa will reunite us, trust her!" She took a pocketknife and cut the horse's reins, and then slapped his side. The horse immediately broke into a run away from the palace and towards the desert. It had all happened so fast I barely had time to think.

"KIGALI!!!" I called behind me as I trotted away. The gate had closed, missing my ride by a few inches, but now Kigali was trapped inside! _Kigali is an expert fighter, and you don't need shaman powers for that._ I reminded myself, but that didn't keep out the biting fear of Kigali's fate.

"Be careful, Key." I whispered as I rode into the freezing desert night.

NORMAL 

Kigali stood on the other side of the gate, looking at the retreating cloud of sand. Well, at least Asali was safe. But now she had a whole new problem to deal with. She half-turned in defiance to the guards, who were running to her as she thought. A plan. She needed a plan. It would be difficult, with no shaman powers. She looked at the stables. They were against the wall, and its roof was near the top. I she could just climb it...

"Hey you!" A guard stepped up and pulled out a sword. No time to think. Kigali dashed to another guard and quickly took his sword out of his hilt. It was so unexpected that everyone was stunned for a moment, trying to figure out how a sword had appeared on the girl's hand, but that moment was all Kigali needed to make it happen. She ran into the stables.

"There she goes! Get her! Bring her alive!" Kigali climbed up a rickety ladder to the hay-bale storage platform, close to the roof, then she grabbed the sword and stuck it in the ceiling. She started to desperately wedge out the wooden planks. _Creak_. Someone in the stairs! _Swish_. A sword missed her by millimeters. The young guard looked at her, impressed.

"You dodged."

"I know my way around swords." She unstuck her sword from the roof and charged at the guard. _Swish... clang... swish_. Kigali swung the sword at top speed, mostly in offence, making the guard back off.

"AHH!" A gash appeared on his shoulder.

"That's for kidnapping me." Then she grabbed his sword and went back to the hole in the ceiling. It was JUST big enough for her to fit through and... YES! She was OUT! She squeezed through the hole and onto the roof, then on the thick wall. She had to jump. It was somewhat high. She hesitated.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE!" She looked backwards. An old guard was pressing himself into the hole. Hesitation gone, she jumped clean off the wall and landed hard in the warming sand. The sun was coming out.

"COME BACK!" They called to her, but she wouldn't hear any of it. She just ran. Ran as fast as possible. The sun rose. The sand burned through the sandals, but she kept on moving. At midday, Kigali slowed to a walk. She was as thirsty as she had ever been.

"Great, without my shaman powers, I can't have any water. Ramissa was right." She sighed and kept on walking. Here in the desert, one couldn't just give up on life, she had learned, one had to keep going until you couldn't keep going and endure until endure you could not. No water. Burning sun. Exhaustion. This was the way she was going to die. It must have been late afternoon when she found a pile of bones that had once been a horse. Her stomach flipped. That would be her by tomorrow night, but she couldn't give in. Tabitha's training had made sure of that. Most normal humans would have collapsed in the scalding sand a long ago, but beating some record wasn't going to help her survive.

The sun was going down. She sighed and put one leg in front of the other. Again... and again... and again... she lost track. It was very hard to believe that yesterday at this time she had been flying high on a balloon, with tons of water and her friends. Now she was alone. The temperature went down fast. Very fast. A degree a minute. The sky became dark as the sun hid away from sight. The sand was now as cold as ice. Never mind the scalding death of being fried alive, she would die here, in the freezing cold, just like her home in the north. She fell to her knees. This is how it would end. No shaman powers... no spirit... no friends... was Asali going through the same as she was? She didn't know. All she wanted was to lay down and rest... just for a little while... then she'd keep going... but even she knew that morning would not come. If she could only see the northern lights one last time... just once more... her eyes closed serenely.

The sudden changes of temperature plus exhaustion and lack of water had put her in a coma-like state. She didn't feel the bitter cold as midnight crept by. She didn't feel the shifting sands as they accompanied the winds on their journey south. She didn't hear her friend's calls several miles away. She didn't see the dark silhouette shadow her unconscious body, blocking the moon and all its light from sight. She didn't feel the two strong arms that picked her up. She didn't feel a thing. Only darkness and tranquility. Only that.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

So? Can you guess who it is? Can you? Can you? Lol, yeah I bet you can. I made this chapter longer to make up for the past ones! Review if you can and brush your teeth every day!

Next chapter- We Meet Again


	19. We Meet Again

Here's chapter nineteen! I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer- I don't own Shaman King. Happy? I'm not.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0 We Meet Again 0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**KIGALI **

"She is stirring, Hao-sama."

"Excellent..."

Hao... Hao... what a familiar name... Hao Asakura right? I felt myself begin to stir... my senses returning to me one by one... except one... the sixth one didn't come. I started to remember fragments of past events... I was in the desert...

I opened my eyes a millimeter and got a view of the starry desert sky. It was nighttime... shouldn't it be cold? Yeah... It should... but I felt warm... I felt wonderful... I opened my eyes a bit more... I saw my shadow dancing in front of me.

I turned my head towards the source of light. A huge bonfire danced happily, heating up the now-freezing cold sands of the Sahara. I found myself captivated by the flames... the flames that danced... I smiled vaguely... I had no idea where I was... who was I again? Oh yeah... Kigali... Kigali Twilight Song... I was a shaman... was I?

The fire captivated me... I had no worries whatsoever... It was a funny feeling... forgetfulness. It made you forget all your doubts... all your fears... but it wouldn't last long... I was already remembering more and more... I started humming a tune to the jazzing blaze... then singing... a song as ancient as the pyramids themselves... as old as the giant redwoods and the blue ocean... as old as the sky itself... how I knew the song? I'll never know...

"What a beautiful song." Huh? I tilted my head around to look over the flames. Someone was sitting across the fire... its smoke shadowing his face. The person stood up and walked through the fire. Right through it... like a dolphin through the water... he didn't even get burned... I looked up at him.

My vision was blurry, but I could make him out... him... him... with that long, handsome brown hair... that white cloak... covering his shoulders and toned chest... those funny looking gloves and boots... the red-white-and-blue star earrings... just like mine... just like them... those eyes... Oh God, those eyes... so deep and alluring... as black as the night itself... as black...

"It's... you..." I managed to whisper before my vision turned black and at last faded... I went back to dreaming... except now the dreams weren't peaceful. All the memories I had recently lost were flashing back at me with startling force... my doubts returned. I now had fears. I was scared... I was scared for Asali and Ramissa... I was scared for Zoe...

...**Dreamscape...**

"MOMMY!" a little girl yelled. I opened my eyes to find myself in the middle of a burning house. The little girl stood amidst the flames, tears running down her face. Her hair was coppery brown and white. "MOMMY!" She cried. I stood there, frozen. I couldn't move!

"Kigali!!! Kigali! You're safe!" A girl around the age of six ran out of a room that was quickly spreading the flames. She had long, brownish-blond hair and blue eyes like mine. "Kigali! We've GOT to get out of here."

"But mom!"

"She told us to go! Please, Kigali! This is NOT the time!" The little girl didn't listen. She struggled against the other girl's hold, crying heavily. Finally, she went limp and allowed the older girl to drag her out of the house and out into a place I knew all too well. The Kovu Village. People were gathering outside, horrified looks on their faces. A raven-haired woman around the age of twenty pushed through the crowd and ran to the two girls.

"Girls! You're safe! Thank God!" She hugged them tight, a tear running down her cheek. "Tell me! Where's Tala??? Zoria! Where is mommy???" The older girl looked scared.

"She's still in the fire! Daddy won't let her go!" She cried, hugging the smaller girl close.

"Kinaki! Take care of the girls! I'm going in!" The black haired woman yelled to an old woman nearby.

"Be careful Tabitha!" She called beck as the raven-haired woman as she went into the burning house. _Tabitha_. Tabitha 10 years ago. The younger Kinaki knelt down next to the girls and held them as they cried softly. My sister and me. Kigali and... Zoria.

"Someone's coming out!" A man to my left yelled. He was right, someone WAS coming out, but it wasn't Tabitha... or my mom. It was someone whom I had seen only in my earliest memories. My father stumbled out of the cabin and ran into a nearby helicopter, which was waiting for him. The helicopter immediately took off. My father. My infamous father who had taken away everything I had.

"Look! Someone else is exiting the building!" A woman yelled loudly. And out of my house came a pale Tabitha holding a woman in her arms. A woman with short, coppery brown hair. She was badly burned, and seemed unconscious, but that didn't succeed in stealing any of her radiant beauty.

"Help! Please! Anyone! Please, Tala is severely burned." She handed my mother to a nearby nurse, whom I recognized as the one who had care for me all these years. "I think she is also suffering from internal bleeding. Please help her."

"MOM!" The younger version of me jumped up and ran to Tabitha, followed closely by her sister. "Mom! Why won't she wake up Auntie? Why???" She pulled down on Tabitha's dress. Tabitha looked down at her sadly.

"Because. Just because." She hugged the little girl as she cried loudly on her shoulder. Zoria stood quietly besides her. She didn't cry, but I could see her sadness through her eyes.

"Will mother ever wake up again Aunt Tabitha?" She asked.

"...No. She won't."

**KIGALI **

"NO!!!" I woke up suddenly, shaking and crying.

"Are you all right Miss?" Asked a small voice by my side. I looked around me. A dark little girl was standing by me, looking at me with huge brown eyes. I was in the desert. Of course, a dream. Just a dream. One of the arts of divination was the art of dreams, I was enough of an expert to know that this dream was no made-up nightmare, but I had more realistic matters at hand. I would have to lock the dream away for now. I was in the middle of the Sahara with a strange little girl and the remains of a fire by me. The girl was so short that she was my height, even if I was just sitting down. She wore orange tribal clothing and had a puffy afro hairdo.

"Umm... hi...?" I greeted her. She just kept staring at me. Creepy. "So... did you take me here? Sorry, but I don't remember anything." I laughed.

"Why is a weak human in the desert? Opacho thinks Hao-sama must have mistaken you for somebody else." Hao. Hao Asakura. I sighed and fingered the choker as the little girl blabbed on. "Hao-sama brought you here three days ago. You woke up once, but have been in an uneasy sleep since then. It is strange for Hao-sama to bring humans. Very strange, he usually kills them on sight. Opacho wonders what is going on in Hao-sama's head. He has been very quiet since he brought you, and when Opacho asks him about his thoughts, he just says he is remembering the past."

"Mmm-hmm..." I nodded, not really understanding what the little girl was talking about. "Who's Opacho?"

"Opacho is I." Ok... so she spoke in third-person.

"Ok, listen Opacho. I'm no human. I'm a shaman."

"Opacho won't believe the Arabian girl's words. Her aura is weak and no spirit is near." Arabian girl? I looked down. Oh. I was still wearing the clothes that retarded sultan had made me wear. I STILL found it too revealing.

"Whatever."

"Opacho thinks Hao-sama will be back very soon. He will be very pleased when he sees your eyes open." I bit my lip, a habit I had picked up from Asali. Hao was the enemy. Who knows what he would do when he came back. He could kill me... or worse... I had to leave ASAP.

"Ok, nice meeting you Opacho." I stood up and dusted the sand off my light clothing.

"Arabian girl will go out into the desert alone?"

"Yes."

"She will dry up like a prune."

"No she won't—I mean, no I won't." I walked up a sand dune with much difficulty. I was still fairly weak from three days ago. Maybe I should stay...

"Maybe you should." Said a voice behind me. Not Opacho's. I whirled around to find myself nose-to-nose with the boy from last night.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" I fell back into the sand in surprise. Opacho giggled. I put a hand in my chest. The boy smiled in amusement.

"Not funny. You almost gave me a freaking heart attack. Who are you anyways?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Both of them. Who else could read minds with such ease?

"We've met before." He said simply.

"We have? I don't remember seeing anyone like you before."

"Then why are your earrings exactly like mine?" Oh.

"I'm just a human."

"Nice try. It didn't work last time, and it won't work this time." He held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up with ease, then he led me back to the fire. I sat down.

"Why did you save me? I thought you hated humans... Hao Asakura." I said, crossing my arms and looking away from him.

"You are no human." I felt him near me. He pulled me to him and reached for my neck. I instinctively blushed as his breath caressed the back of my neck. I heard a light creak as the choker opened (by someone with great shaman powers, as the old shaman said) and all hell broke loose. The great Hao Asakura was shunted off to the side in a huge explosion of aura. My aura. I felt all my powers come back, everything was here! Asali was twenty miles away, Zoe and Ramissa were with her. Hao's aura entered my consciousness. As familiar as ever. He looked at me in enjoyment as I lifted my hands into the air and yelled happily.

"YES!!!! I'M BACK!!!!" a raindrop fell on my nose... then two... then three... it was raining! In the Sahara! I laughed as the rain fell in great quantities across the sand dunes. A blue blur hurled itself at me.

"KEY!!!!!!!!!KeyKeyKeyKeyKeyKeyKey!!!!!!!!!!!"

"ZOE!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE HERE!!!!!" I sank to my knees and hugged her as tight as I could.

"My suspicions were right." I turned to Hao. He was standing quietly with Opacho by his side. Zoe went silent. She stared at Hao in recognition with big, blue eyes. He grabbed my arm and touched my cheek. He was so close. "Kigali, the goddess of water and ice. I will be waiting." He closed off the remaining space between us with a searing kiss. A little voice in my brain told me to stop... maybe it was Zoe... but I couldn't stop. It was like someone was controlling me, I was like a puppet. He pulled away slowly and smiled a dazzling smile. Then he and Opacho disappeared in a huge blaze of flames. The rain slowly came to a stop. Wow. What just happened?

"What just happened?" asked Zoe, voicing my thoughts. "Kigali... that was—"

"I know! I know! That was HIM. CRAP, this wasn't supposed to happen! Zoe! You CAN'T tell Asali or Ramissa."

"You know them. They always finds out!"

"They won't. They can't know. Oh! I feel horrible!"

"Why? Because you're fraternizing with the enemy? Because you've cheated on your fiancé? Because—"

"Zoe, if you're ever going to shut up, this would be an excellent time to do so." I whistled into the air and Blizzard came spiraling down and landed with a happy chirp of greeting.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

All right! Hao and Kigali met again! How was that, huh? Review and tell me!

Next Chapter: The Sisterhood's First Gig

By the way, next chapter will be more centered on Kigali, Asali, and Ramissa as a band, so hang tight until the real action comes!


	20. The Sisterhood's First Gig

Hello again! Chapter 20! Yeah! I'm glad you liked last chapter! I'll try to keep up the updating!

Disclaimer- I don't own Shaman King... or Charlie's Angels.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 The Sisterhood's First Gig 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**RAMISSA **

"What if he found Kigali? What if Kigali's dead? Oh, it's all my fault! I shouldn't have left her." Asali cried.

"Don't beat yourself up. Kigali's alive." I assured her. We both knew this was true. A weird series of events had been unleashed recently. First, we had sensed Hao Asakura's aura nearby, then we sensed an outburst of aura that was unmistakably Kigali's, then Zoe dashed off, then it started to rain in the desert, and finally, Hao's aura vanished again. We had been looking for Kigali when all this had happened, but it had been difficult because her connection to Gaea had been cut when the chocker had been placed around her neck. I had only found Asali by mere coincidence, and managed to free her shamanic power.

"LOOK!" Asali pointed upwards. I followed her finger. A giant blue-and-white eagle was soaring down from the clouds. "It's Blizzard!" The big bird landed and none other than Kigali jumped off her back, followed by a dingo Zoe.

"Key!"

"You guys!" We hugged her tight.

"You're a shaman again!" Exclaimed Asali happily.

"Who undid the spell?" I cut her off. Kigali was silent. "It was HIM wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Why did he do it?"

"I—I don't know." I narrowed my eyes at her. She blushed. Why would she blush like that... unless...

"Kigali..." I started suspiciously. She turned around and walked away.

"Come on you guys, we have to find a way out of here." She changed the subject. I shot a look at Asali. She frowned. She knew too. We ended up crossing the desert by horseback; our spirits shapeshifted into horses and we rode bareback. I provided oases to sleep and rest in, Kigali provided water, and Asali kept at bay the sandstorms.

"My elbows are SO ashy! It's all this heat, I know it." I complained.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna get wrinkles." Asali followed suit.

"No big, you guys, just... HEY! LOOK!" Kigali suddenly rode ahead on a black and white Zoe. We looked at where she was going. A solitary house stood alone in the horizon... then another... and another...

"We're in the outskirts of the city!" We were, for soon the houses turned into buildings, and streets, and many, many cars. We sat on a bench at a nearby park. We released our hawks, and with Kigali's ability of animal speech told them to come when whistled for.

"Hey, guys, how can we travel in the city without an older guardian? I mean, it's ok to travel alone in a place where there's no police, but here we'll get caught." I said, worried. Kigali just put her arms behind her head and leant back casually.

"No big, you see, Tabitha has a back up plan for that issue."

"What is it?"

"Me" She smiled and her hair started to turn dark... then black... her eyes became black also, and she grew about a foot and a half. Kigali wasn't the one sitting by us now. It was Tabitha. She laughed in a very un-Tabitha way.

"Kigali! You can shapeshift into people???"

"Yup." She said proudly. Zoe turned into a black mutt and sat at her heels, now visible to regular humans. Riomi followed suit and turned into a German shepherd. Denali turned into a lab. We toured the streets for most of the morning, shopping and wasting money, until finally, we had none left.

"WHAT??? NO MONEY???" cried Kigali, in her regular form again. "What did we spend it all on anyways???"

"Subway sandwiches, Kigali's outfit, my shoes, Ramissa's CD player and... oh yeah! The manicures."

"Awww man! Where are we going to get the money??? We need to buy at least enough for food to eat on the way across the ocean... and considering Kigali's appetite, that could be quite a lot."

"Shut up! I, Kigali, have a great idea!" She smiled THAT smile.

"Uh-Oh." Asali said. "Key has on her pirate face."

"I do not!" Kigali protested, even though she completely did.

"Ok, ok... what are you thinking."

"Two words. Hibachi Hut." Hibachi Hut was a nightclub we had passed earlier today.

"I'm not gonna sell my body for money, dude." Asali sniffed.

"NO STUPID! We can sing! We'll do a concert."

"They're not going to hire three under-age teenagers to rock their nightclub, you know." I warned her.

"Sure, I'll hire you. We don't have anyone to play for us tonight."

"WHAT???" My mouth and Asali's dropped to the ground. We were on the office of Hibachi Hut's manager. Kigali smiled triumphantly.

"Excellent. We'll be here tonight. What price should we agree on?" she said.

"It depends. We get teenager's bands all the time here, but they're never any good, so we pay them small fees, and by the look of you, I can tell you are not from here. Have you come from a long way?"

"Yes."

"I see... well, I will pay you depending on your performance here tonight."

"You won't be disappointed." We turned to walk away.

"Wait, what name should I book you under?"

"The Sisterhood of Angels."

"Tonight at ten."

"Gotcha."

We met back at Hibachi Hut at nine forty five. We had put on our Arabian clothes for the occasion. Kigali was practically shining. Asali was nervous.

"This is our first performance! What if—"

"Good morning Angels." The manager walked into the office.

"It's Charlie." Whispered Kigali. I snickered.

"Are you ready? Do you need anything?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, we do. Do you have a drum set?"

"Yes."

"And Disk Jockey equipment?"

"Of course. I'll set it up on the stage." He walked away. Kigali turned to us, very business-like.

"Ok, Ramissa, you got the drums, Asali, handle the DJ. I'll do the guitar. We all sing ok? All of us. Five songs, ok? Now, Let's rock this joint!" She grabbed her Nevermeltice and it became a beautiful, sparkly, blue-and-white electric guitar. We walked out into the stage; the dance floor was teeming with people. I felt all eyes fall on us. Everything went quiet, and then they started to laugh. They were laughing at us! I felt myself blush. Asali looked at Kigali in despair, but Kigali just smiled.

"It's ok guys, we've just got to impress them first, get their attention. Look." She plugged the guitar and struck a note, then another, followed by the most complex guitar refrains I had ever heard. The sound traveled and echoed through the club. The dance floor went so quiet I could practically hear crickets. Good old Kigali. She looked at Asali and nodded once. She put on her headphones and microphone and her fingers moved swiftly over the DJ board. I put on my microphone too. Kigali turned to me and nodded. I knew what to do. I played a multifaceted beat in the drum set; soon to be joined by Asali's quick up-tempo and Kigali's guitar jams.

The crowd started to cheer as Asali pumped up the volume, and then started to dance. Kigali sang like she had never sung before. I knew she was loving this. Zoe and Denali did some nifty little special effects, like mist and sparks. It was all going perfectly. We choired together; The Sisterhood had made its debut. We left the stage in a hustle of cheers and commotion. We had completely outshined their expectations.

"Very good! Excellent!" The manager of Hibachi Hut walked us back to his office. "Very good! How long will you be in town?"

"Leaving tomorrow."

"That's too bad, because you rocked the place! We haven't had this many people in three months!"

"Great! How much will we get then?" I sighed. Kigali the business lady. She pocketed the money and we walked out of the club.

"Hey you guys... I've been thinking..."

"What?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Maybe we should have a little... detour..."

"Huh?"

"Instead of crossing the OCEAN to Japan... we could take the way through Europe!"

"You're nuts! Tabitha will bite our heads off!"

"She doesn't HAVE to know... we can go through Europe, through North and Central America, and reach the other side of the world directly in Japan! If we manage our time right, we'll make it a month before the Shaman Tournament even starts! And we'll be famous! What do you think?"

"I think we have a plan." I said, putting an arm around Kigali's shoulders.

"You guys! This is crazy! How are we going to travel???" Asali said, trying to find an excuse.

"We can ride Blizzard! Or our spirits!"

"What about food?"

"Did you see how much money that guy back there gave us???"

"What if we go broke and run out of food???"

"I can grow any kind of fruit or vegetable in a second. I AM after all the goddess of earth..." I offered.

"C'mon Ally! We can go around the world! We can visit France! And think of Hawaii! We can even visit you parents in the US! How cool is THAT???"

"Well... all right..." She said finally. We hugged her in thanks. "But we have to set down some rules for The Sisterhood. First let's find a place to crash for the night." We rented a room in a shabby little Inn with breakfast included. Asali jumped on the queen-sized bed.

"Ok, I've got pen and paper. Let's make the rules of The Sisterhood." We ate snacks as we though up of the rules. The manifesto, as Kigali called it. Asali was nominated to write it, since she had the best handwriting.

The rules took a while to sort out. Asali wanted to focus on the do's and don'ts of The Sisterhood, but Kigali preferred to focus on friendship-based rules. I came up with several silly rules, mostly to mock Asali's overly serious ones. By the time we'd agreed on 15 rules, Asali held an assorted list that ranged from sincere to silly. I knew we would stick to them.

"_VOILA_!" Called Asali as she scribbled the last word on the paper. Kigali snatched it from her and read it out loud.

_We, the Sisterhood of Angels, hereby instate the following rules to govern the way of life of the sisterhood._

_Matching clothes must be worn to concerts._

_No member of the sisterhood is to strike a deal with rich moneybag agents. The sisterhood rules itself._

_No boy must ever come between the ties of the sisterhood. One may, however, put him second in priority (see rule #6)_

_You must try to avoid interviews at all costs (See rule #5)_

_The sisterhood must have a cool and down-to-earth attitude at all times (To avoid becoming a spoiled diva star)_

_The sisterhood will work as a team and keep the Shaman Tournament in the same priority as the band, if not first._

_The sisterhood will stick together even after one of their members becomes the Shaman Queen._

_The members of the sisterhood must keep their fashion sense at all times (bad ex. Asali's morning hair)_

_The sisterhood must always be there for one another, even when times are at its worst._

_The sisterhood may not flirt with each other's boyfriends, no matter how hot they are._

_You must never lie to your sisters, no matter how shameful the truth is._

_You may not laugh at your sisters when they are telling a very shameful truth (see rule #11)_

_The sisterhood may not be dominated by any of the male species. It is exclusively a babe's club and only for the crème de la crème of dependence-free chicks._

_The sisters of the sisterhood will be your most important family; so do not betray your sisters._

_Don't you EVER tell your sisters secrets to other people. (Exceptions may be allowed by the main keeper of the secret)_

_Remember: Sisterhood Love. Love your sisters. Love yourself._

_The following three members of the sisterhood hereby make this document sacred:_

_Kigali Twilight Song (Belaqua)_

_Asali Wind Mist (Avalon)_

_Ramissa Dark Rose (Bikele)_

"Oh! We're good!" Exclaimed Kigali as we signed our names.

"But we have to obey the rules."

"You worry too much, Asali. We'll follow the rules." Kigali shot back at her as she folded the document and stored it in Asali's backpack. I crawled into bed.

"Missy! That's my bed!" Asali pushed me off.

"What???" I yelled as she crept into the covers.

"No way! It's all mine!" Kigali jumped on the bed, bouncing Asali off. She fell on the ground with a thud. I laughed as Asali beat Kigali with a flat pillow. The laughter was noon all over the room as it turned into a fierce battlefield of deadly pillows.

_Ring! Riiiiiiiing!_

"The phone! Pick it up Kigali!" She lifted the phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" a loud screechy voice yelled through the receiver and into Key's ear.

"Blah blah... quiet... blah blah blah... kick you out... blah blah... can't sleep... BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!!"

"Err... sorry lady...yeah... of course... no, we won't... promise... ok... have a good night... bye..." She hung up the receiver and smiled quietly. "It sure is different than sleeping in the desert..." We squeezed into the bed, Asali in the middle. She was right. After a month of sleeping on lumpy ground, a soft bed was too... soft. I grabbed a bunch of covers and moved down to the ground. Riomi curled around me as I fell I into an uneasy sleep.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

So how was that? I hope you liked it! As I said before, this chapter focused more on Kigali, Asali, and Ramissa. I think the next one will too, but hang tight!

Next Chapter- A Little Detour


	21. A Little Detour

Sorry I didn't update in such a long time!!! Lol, I was really busy! Ok, I hope this satisfies my loyal reviewers! I love u ppl!

Disclaimer- Shaman King Not miiiiiiiiiiine!

...**ASALI...**

We woke up early the next morning and spent some of our payday from last night to buy bags of chips and ramen-noodle soup for the trip.

"Well, I guess that from now until next week all we can afford to eat are chips and soup." I sighed while loading several bags on Denali, who was in the shape of a normal horse, not an unusual animal in this city. She neighed contently.

"The glamorous life of a star..." joked Kigali. I laughed. We went to an isolated place to summon Blizzard (the roof of an abandoned building) and climbed on her. She was so big that we could all sit there comfortably. Denali, Zoe, and Riomi would fly alongside her in their regular shapes, carrying the backpacks and the shopping bags (There was a lot of complaining at this, mostly by Zoe), but we eventually took off and flew away into the clouds.

"First stop, Spain!" We cheered. It was awesome. Or at least, at first it was.

**0o0o0o0**

"Kigali... my tailbone hurts!" I complained.

"It shouldn't, you were practically born riding horses."

"This is a bird. Isn't Blizzard tired?"

"Nope."

"Awww..."

"Stop complaining, Asali. The more we fly, the sooner we get there."

And so, The Sisterhood of Angels traveled the world. We stopped in at least six nightclubs in each of the major cities of the countries we stopped at. I must admit we became rather famous. Word got around pretty fast about our traveling band. I do believe we appeared once or twice in the newspaper, and some people in the streets tend to holler at us in recognition, but worst of all were the interviewers and agents. They totally mobbed us. 'Can I be your agent?' 'Full partnership' 'blah blah blah', it drove us mad, but we always found a way to lose them.

Madrid... London... Paris... Berlin...Rome... Lisbon... Europe was intense. When we booked into a club ahead of time, people mobbed in to see us. The interviewers crowded around us after each concert, but all we told them was the next location we would appear at. It was still a mystery to the world how we got from country to country that fast without being sighted at an airport even once, but we managed just fine. We were happy just singing and getting our cash. Getting famous just... happened.

When it was time to go to the America's, we DID announce it to the public, but that was just so they wouldn't spread horrible rumors like us getting murdered or something like that. The ride through the ocean was one of the longest trips of my life, but we had our ways of entertaining ourselves. We mostly flew close to the ocean waves, but sometimes, Blizzard landed on the water and floated like a duck, resting and recovering energy. When we ran out of food in the middle of the Atlantic it wasn't a problem either, Kigali had taught us how to fish with our shapeshifting weapons, and I have to confess that I was pretty good.

But something had been worrying me about Kigali. She wasn't herself. Sometimes, when we actually slept on dry land (small islands we found on the way, but when no land was around, we took shifts to sleep on Blizzard's fluffy back while the other two watched you so you wouldn't fall off) Kigali would just sit there and stare out at sea. I asked Zoe about it, and she said that 'It was one of the curses of the water goddess. The sea always calls out to her, but if she does give in to the call, she might not come back, so she holds out.' I didn't understand her then, but I had a feeling I didn't.

We arrived on the coast of Florida, US in a beautiful spring day. We were received by a large group of beach-goers, and we had to write out hands off with all the autographs, but we were finally able to escape. We visited my parents, too. They were really proud of my achievements, and also happy to meet my friends. It was very cool. We went to all the state's capitals and did a concert in each one. It was tough, and we had to make up new songs on the road, but I was ok with that.

Ramissa did most of the lyrics, and Kigali most of the melody. It was always my job to jazz the songs up. We went all over the US in two months, including Alaska and Hawaii. A record in my point of view. We visited Canada shortly too, and Kigali got to visit her tribe. Cool bunch. We celebrated her 14th birthday there, May 23rd. It was one wild party.

After the US, we went to a few countries in Central America. The ancient temples in Mexico were out of this world. We also stopped by Venezuela; there were lots of spirit mediums there. A spirit medium is kind of like a priestess that connects the spirit world and this world together. They were ecstatic to meet us, and greeted us with great feasts in the honor of 'las diosas', or 'the goddesses'. We also went through some of their trainings and rituals, which taught us many things. Including Spanish. Argentina and Brazil were really cool too. Ramissa especially loved Brazil's rainforests, and Kigali adored the great Humpback Whales in the southern tip of Argentina. It was wild, so we looked forward to some relaxation when crossing over the 'Pacific' Ocean.

But it turned out that the Pacific Ocean was anything BUT pacific. There were continuous storms and cyclones, so we had to fly above the clouds, where it was the coldest. Kigali was thrilled, of course, but it was quite a different matter for Ramissa and I. We huddled under a blanket most of the way, shivering at the chilly wind. Like I said, anything but pacific, but it DID have a positive side to it. The way to Japan through the not-so-pacific ocean was very short, so we didn't have to worry much about food supplies. Ramissa was the first one who spotted land. She has the keenest eyes.

"LAND HO!" She yelled at the top of her voice.

"WHAT??? Are you serious? We're there already???" Kigali asked happily.

"YEAH!!! JAPAN, HERE WE COME!" I yelled. Blizzard gave a happy chirp and dived down softly, finally landing on top of a huge building after a week of continuous flight. We jumped off excitedly.

"Where are we Ramissa?" Kigali asked, looking over her shoulder at the map she had bought in a dollar store.

"This city is called Tokoyama, 25 miles southwest of Tokyo. That's what were we're headed for."

"Wait, you guys." We looked at Kigali. She had on her uh-oh-sorry-guys-change-of-plans face on. I groaned. "It's not that bad, I just got to do some things before heading out for Tokyo."

"Like?" I asked.

"Well, I've got to see someone in Izumo, a small town here in Japan, and I'll need Blizzard to get there..."

"Ok, I have an idea, how about you go to Izumo and we go sight seeing, and then meet back at Tokyo in say... three days?" Suggested Ramissa.

"How are you going to get there?"

"We'll use our spirits. It's only 25 miles away! Don't look so worried, Kigali!"

"I know, but remember, there will be lots of really powerful shamans gathering there. Keep out of trouble."

"YOU'RE the one that usually starts the trouble, but ok, we will. And also, we should send our birds with messages that we arrived safely to our tribes. We'll send them before you go, Kigali."

"But how are we going to keep in touch?"

"Nothing will happen, there won't be a reason to keep in touch for three days!"

"You're right. I'll miss you guys!" She added dramatically.

"THREE DAYS!" We yelled at her.

"Ok, ok." She laughed and wrote the letter to Tabitha and tied it around Liberty's talon. We did the same. Kigali spoke to the birds and told them their destination and the meeting place back in Tokyo, then she sent them off. We all waved, I don't know why. Kigali then hugged each of us and jumped on Blizzard's back. "See ya!" Blizzard jumped to the air and quickly disappeared in the clouds. I sighed. This is what Kigali is best at. Being free. She had some independence issues. Ramissa put her arm around my shoulder.

"So... which way to Godzilla?"

"I was thinking Japanese takeout."

"We have got a plan!"

...**KIGALI...**

"Just like old times, right Zoe?" She smiled as she flew by me.

"Sure is." I hate to admit it, but riding alone on Blizzard was much more spacious and comfortable than riding with Ramissa and Asali. I had sorta missed it.

"Do you think we'll find Anna in Izumo?" I asked my partner.

"Maybe. I've heard Asakuras have a huge house there. That's where Yoh and... Hao were born."

"No, they didn't. They were born at the Patch Village." I corrected. Zoe was silent for a bit before getting to the point.

"Kigali, they knew."

"What do you mean?" I played dumb.

"Asali and Ramissa. They knew you smooched Hao."

"I did NOT smooch him. It was his entire fault, don't worry Zoe, I'll get him back for that. No one steals a kiss from Kigali Twilight Song and gets away with it."

"No one except him... and HoroHoro."

"Zoe! I told you not to mention his name!"

"Forgetting him won't work. You're bound to meet in the Tournament."

"Well, still. And I didn't smooch with HoroHoro!"

"You liar! I saw you! What was that again about not lying to your sisters? No matter how SHAMEFUL the truth really is..."

"It was only a goodbye kiss... a short one. Happy now? I mean, we were CHILDREN!"

"And what about Hao huh? What do you have to say for that?" I sighed. She would probably keep talking about the subject to herself, because I wasn't really paying attention. It was a little dance we did. I looked at the horizon and pursed my lips. Anna...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

So whatcha think? That wasn't SUCH a long detour, now was it? Just hang tight! Lol. Review if you have time!

Next Chapter- Izumo


	22. Izumo

Thanx for reviewing to all those who reviewed! I love u guys! You're so supportive! Cool, now that the 'detour' is over we can move on with the story! hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer- (writing on chalkboard) I will not pretend I own Shaman King... I will not pretend I own Shaman King...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o IZUMO o0o0o0o0o0o0**

We arrived in Izumo that afternoon and landed behind a house. Blizzard immediately rose to the air again, out of sight.

"We'll have to walk from here, Zoe." She turned into a pure white Samoyed dog and followed at my heels as we strolled down the streets of Izumo.

"Excuse me sir, but do you know where we could find the Asakura residence?" I asked a man who was getting on his car.

"Yes, I do. They live a few blocks down that street." He pointed.

"Thanks!" I ran off excitedly, Zoe skipping at my heels. We came upon a humongous house with a gigantic front/back yard (it was all over the place). I walked up a thin path and knocked the door. I heard footsteps as someone neared and then opened the door. A girl my age with short, pink hair shyly opened the door.

"Um... hi! Could you tell me if Anna Kyouyama lives here...?" The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and then in recognition.

"No, I'm sorry, she doesn't." she said in a soft voice.

"Oh... ok then, I'm really sorry to bother you." I started to turn away.

"Wait! Umm... Anna did use to live here, but she is out of town, would you like to talk to Kino-sensei?"

"If that's ok..." I followed the pink-haired girl into the house. It was decorated with traditional Japanese umm... decorations.

"I am Tamao, by the way. Tamao Tamamura at your service, Miss Belaqua." She said shyly. I wondered how she knew my name.

"You're worldwide famous, stupid!" whispered Zoe. Of course. I knew that. The girl led me into a hall and knocked a door.

"Who is there?" came a voice from the inside of the room.

"It is a girl, sensei, she is looking for Anna." The door opened, revealing an old lady with gray hair and round sunglasses that walked in a short, wooden cane. She looked me over with interest.

"Would you like to come in? Something tells me you're looking for some answers." Officially impressed. I walked in, and Zoe followed after a second of hesitation. I sat on my knees in a traditional Japanese coffee table.

"So. You have come in search of Anna Kyouyama."

"That's right. Did you know her?" I asked. She paused for a moment in thought.

"Of course, young shaman. Anna was... and IS my best disciple." She knew I was a shaman. There was more to this lady than met the eye.

"Disciple? For what?"

"Anna is an expert Itako." A priestess!!! Anna!!! I swelled up in pride. It had been Anna's dream to be an Itako.

"Could you tell me more? Like when she came here... do you remember?"

"Yes. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. It happened around six years ago, when my husband had brought me a young girl the age of seven...

_I watched the girl being dragged in by my husband. She was dressed in a black dress and had a blue bracelet in her right hand. Her face was slightly puffy from crying, but no tears flowed now. She looked angry._

"_What's your name, girl?" I asked her. She just turned her head and scoffed, but then, after some thought, she straightened up and spoke in an even voice._

"_My name is Anna. Anna Kyouyama."_

"_And why are you here?"_

"_Maybe I should be asking that question." She shot back._

"_My husband brought you here because he thought you have Itako potential. What do you think?"_

"_I was happy where I was."_

"_An orphanage? Not exactly paradise if you ask me. You can dream of bigger, better things."_

"_Like?"_

"_I can train you to be an expert Itako. Teach you all my secrets. AND an opportunity to be Shaman Queen without even competing in the tournament." I offered. The girl's face went from mad to ambitious. She liked the idea. _

"_An expert Itako?" I could see she was having an internal struggle. "Ok, I'll stay, if you'll train me."_

"_I will, but first I must talk to the guardian of the orphanage you were relocated from"_

"_He doesn't care. And besides, I make my own decisions and have my own control over my life." I liked her spirit. The girl had guts. _

"_Fine. Anna, welcome to the Asakura family. I will order a room to be prepared for you." She just nodded and walked out of the room. _

I was stunned. Anna had been trained to be an Itako by this woman. She had been in this house.

"Where is she now?"

"She is in Tokyo, preparing my grandson for the Shaman Tournament."

"Your grandson is... Yoh Asakura. Am I correct?"

"You are."

"I thank you for your time."

"Yes, of course. I just have one question."

"Hmm?"

"Is your name Kigali?" I was even more surprised.

"Y—yes."

"I see. Anna lives in a zone in Tokyo called Funbari. She talked about you a lot when she first came. I told her to forget you, and to focus on her training, but that was only because I had no idea you would meet again. I apologize for that." She said. This took me aback.

"Oh... err... ok... it's ok... I guess. Thank you for everything. Bye." I walked out of the room. The pink-haired girl showed me out of the house, after asking me form my autograph and asking where Asali and Ramissa were.

"Hey Key? What do you think the old lady meant by 'being Shaman Queen without even competing in the tournament'?"

"Who knows? And her name was Kino-sensei, not old lady."

"That's what you were thinking." She shot back. I hate it when she uses our spirit bond to read my mind.

"Whatever. Japanese titles are very complicated anyways." I whistled for Blizzard. She flapped down from the sky and butted me in greeting. We took off into the sky as soon as the sunset came. The sky was cloudless, and I couldn't afford being seen. We arrived in Tokyo at around 10 PM after flying at top speed.

"Why the hurry?" asked Zoe.

"We've GOT to find Anna."

"But it's late."

"I wanted to check something out." I landed, as usual, on top of a building. "I hear there's some cool nightclubs here."

"WHAT??? You're joking! You can't do a concert without Asali and Missy!"

"I know that! But I'm not going to sing. I just want to hang."

"That's irresponsible."

"I know. But it's been a week since I've danced. I want to have some fun before seeing Anna!" Zoe whined in concern as I changed into a black one-shoulder shirt and a short, ridged red mini-skirt.

"How do I look?" I posed for her.

"Nice. Too nice, come on! Whet you're doing is plain reckless!"

"I AM reckless."

"I KNOW!"

"Aww, c'mon Zoe, be a sweetheart and stay here and take care of my backpack. K?"

"Where are we going to stay tonight Key?"

"I don't know. I'll figure that out when I come back. Stay here until I do ok? Don't move from here."

"But what if you get in trouble?"

"Me? Trouble? Ha! Give me a break Zoe! I laugh in the face of trouble! HA HA HA!" I laughed.

"Ok. Fine." I hugged her and went down to ground level. The club was a few blocks from there. I walked into the club and made it for the dance floor. I was indifferent to drinking. I hated it, but I loved to dance. Dancing was like singing or playing soccer. It's just one of those things I'm good at. I gave myself to the music, but not completely. There were shouts and stares and catcalls that I suspected were aimed at me, but I danced solo. I sat at the bar and was offered something to drink, but I turned it down. Zoe was right. I was too reckless. Asali would murder me if she found out about this. Ramissa would shake her head in disapproval. 'You're too young to be in a dance club! Someone could take advantage of you blah blah blah' they would say.

I sighed and looked at my watch. It was late. I felt guilt at leaving poor Zoe with my backpack when I was dancing for all to see... and there's no use dancing when you feel guilty. I stood up to go when I saw a flash of blue hair. Wha...? I shook my head. The music was getting to me. I walked out of the club and down the deserted street. I was lost in thought as I walked towards the building I would find Zoe in. maybe TOO lost in thought, because I rammed straight into a boy who was standing with his buddies in the middle of the sidewalk. I fell backwards. He smirked.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in this place at this time?' I didn't like where this was going.

"I'm coming back from the club." I shot back.

"Aren't you a little young to go to the club?" He sneered. I had dealt with these types of slime balls before. I smiled sweetly.

"Look, boy. Don't underestimate me. I might just end up surprising you."

"Oh really? You've got some guts talking to me like that. Did you know that I'm the leader of a very tough gang here?" He looked past my shoulder. Step... step... behind me! I dodged just as another boy lunged for me. He fell on his knees and I took the opportunity to kick him in the stomach. The 'leader' looked at me in surprise. Just like I had predicted.

"Now, I would suggest you let me through unless you want to be in for a serious beating." I warned them.

"Get her!" I sighed. Sometimes people could be so stupid. About seven guys came at me at the same time, from all sides. Sure, they might have known the basics of street fighting, but a wannabe gangster against a full-fledged ninja chick? Please. They were all down and out in less than two minutes. Except now there were even more boys behind the leader.

"Dude! She's like, a ninja!" I rolled my eyes.

"Get her! She's just a girl!" They came at me again. This time more of them. It was still easy, but this time it was a bit harder. I was seriously outnumbered. I gave myself to the fight, with the agility of the wolf and the strength of the bear. These dudes were no match for me. I got cocky. That was my sole mistake. I got cocky. I let my guard down for a second, and in that second, one of the boys put a handkerchief over my mouth. It was drugged. Not even I could fight against that.

I lost the feeling in my legs and I sunk down to my knees. I couldn't move! I was paralyzed! Crap. If only Zoe had come with me. I felt my vision blur. I had lost against a few stupid human wannabe gangsters. Shame overpowered me. Zoe had been right all along. Why did I never listen to her? The boys laughed all around me... I was picked up, and no matter how much willpower I put into it, I still couldn't move.

"HEY! LET HER GO!" A voice yelled.

"What are you going to do about it?" sneered the leader. Next thing I knew, the person who had been holding me dropped me on the hard, concrete floor. The sounds of fighting ensued... but they became fainter... and fainter... the drug was still taking effect. Someone gently picked me up and moved the hair from my face.

"Are you ok?" His voice echoed as the darkness pressed out consciousness. I only saw one thing before I lost complete vision. A headband. One last thought crossed my brain as I blacked out. _Ainu_.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 TBC 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

So? How was that? I know you know what's coming neeext! Lol, I'll update real soon, k? But review in the meantime!

Next Chapter- Of Many Reunions


	23. Of Many Reunions

Hey peeps, sorry about the looooooooooooooooong wait, lol, I know I get pissed when my fav authors don't update, but I got grounded and my laptop was temporarily kidnapped by my parentals. I just got it back! Ok, on with the show!

Disclaimer- Would I get grounded if I owed Shaman King? No.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 Of Many Reunions 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Snore... snore... huh? Snore... snore... what? Zoe didn't snore.... I opened my eyes and found the roof of a tent over my head. What? I started to freak as I started to remember yesterday's occurrences. Zoe had said no, I went anyways, those guys wouldn't let me through, they drugged me... and they must have taken me with them! I swiped my head towards the snoring. Spiky blue hair and an Ainu headband met my eyes. Oh God, no. But yes. There was no doubt about it.

HoroHoro, my fiancé, had saved me from those pushy gangsters. Now I remembered. Why him of all people??? Why not Asali... or Zoe... or even Yoh Asakura? Whom I didn't even know! Zoe was right. We were bound to meet. But she didn't warn be about the circumstances. I was tucked into a sleeping bag with markings on them. His sleeping bag. He was sleeping uncomfortably next to me on the floor. He had given up his bed for me. I felt my heart lurch. I was afraid of this. Sweetness usually made me give myself over completely, so I hardened my heart again. Softness wouldn't help me now. I shook HoroHoro gently.

"Dude! Wake up!" His eyes opened slowly. He sat up when he saw me.

"You're awake!"

"Yeah... did you save me?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah. Nice seeing you too." He sat beside me.

"Sorry." An awkward silence followed. I was in a tent with my fiancé whom I had not seen in six years and had just saved me. How much more awkward can it get.

"I saw you being bothered my those people and recognized you in an instant. It's been a while huh?"

"Sure has." Another pause.

"I've missed you." He took my hand softly. I felt my heart soften. Again.

"Me too." I put my head on his shoulder. He put his hand around my waist. I scooted closer to him and then...

"KIGALI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I jumped about a foot high as Pilika barreled into the tent and gave me a bear hug.

"PILIKA!!!!!! It's you!!!!" I screamed and hugged her back.

"Oh my god! I though I would never see you again! Sorry I couldn't visit, but I've been training my brother for the Tournament and you must be here for that too!!!"

"Yeah!"

"That's so cool! Maybe you could stay with us! We could find you a team!"

"Thanks, but I've already got a team remember? I'm teamed with the other two goddesses."

"That's awesome! Hey! Where's Zoe?" I froze. Oops. I had totally forgotten about her. "Oh there she is!" What??? I whirled around just as a very pissed Zoe walked into the tent.

"Kigali! You stupid girl! What did I tell you???" She fussed over me and asked questions without letting me answer them.

"Zoe, I'm fine! Really." She huffed and curled into an angry little heap on my lap. Pilika sat down across from HoroHoro and I. Kororo floated over my head, giving happy little squeaks.

"So, Kigali, I heard you're pretty famous!" started Pilika. She made me tell every single detail from my travels and my friends. The two siblings listened to my stories with rapt attention.

"So what do you plan to do now?" I asked them.

"Well, Pilika has to leave for a few weeks to check something in our village. I'll be staying in a buddy's house. I bet if I ask him he'll let you stay with me."

"Sounds like a plan!"

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

We said goodbye to Pilika and walked out of the tent. I found myself in a forest. HoroHoro led the way through the trees.

"Where are we?"

"Neighborhood called Funbari." Ok, this was a coincidence.

"Kigali! You take your backpack! I'm tired of loading this thing around!" Zoe handed it to me.

"Ok... ok. C'mon Zoe! Don't be mad at me! Sorry!" Zoe sighed and climbed on my shoulder as a ferret and sighed.

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Um... not."

"I said sorry!"

"Fine... fine..." I rolled my eyes. She couldn't be mad for more than ten minutes. We walked out of the forest and into a sidewalk. I followed HoroHoro's snowboard, which was strapped to his back.

"HEY! HOROHORO!" He whirled around. I did too. Zoe gasped. I followed suit. A boy with short brown hair ran up to us. He punched HoroHoro in the arm. He was the mirror image of someone I didn't want to be reminded of. He had orange headphones behind his ears and wore a white unbuttoned shirt and green cargos. He had a necklace made of what Zoe suspected to be bear claws.

"Key!" whispered Zoe. "That must be Yoh! That means..." Yes. We had found Yoh Asakura. And Anna.

The boy didn't notice me yet. He had a laid back attitude and an easy-going voice. But he looked the same as Hao. Only with short hair and different clothes and different attitude and... ok so maybe not THAT much alike... but...

"So, are you coming over?'

"Sure am! Hey let me present you to someone." He pivoted to the side, revealing me to the Yoh. "This is—"

"Hey! Aren't you one of The Angels?" He asked. I nodded silently. "Wow! That's so cool. I heard so much about you. Kigali right? I love your songs." I blushed.

"Err... thanks..."

"So, how did you meet HoroHoro?" he asked. HoroHoro immediately jumped to answer the question.

"She's my fia—OW!" I stepped hard on his foot.

"Friend." I ended, giving him a warning look. "I'm a childhood friend from a nearby tribe."

"You're from the north?"

"Yeah, she is. And she's got no place to stay, do you think she could stay with us?" HoroHoro asked.

"Err... that's no problem with me, I'd be glad to have you, but you'll have to ask Anna. She's the one with the power of final word."

"Anna?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah... she's sorta my fiancé." He scratched the back of his neck. My mouth dropped open. So that's what Kino meant by 'becoming Shaman Queen without fighting'. She would marry someone who could BECOME the Shaman King. I had always known that Anna was ambitious, but I hadn't known that she would break our never-marry agreement for that.

"Hey, you broke the agreement too, so you're even." Whispered Zoe, reading my mind. I regained my composure quickly. I smiled at Yoh and winked.

"No big, let's go ask her." My stomach flipped in excitement. I would find Anna after six years.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

We arrived at Yoh's house a few minutes after. It was a huge house.

"So you and your fiancé live here alone?" I asked him.

"Not quite alone." He dodged the question. The door slid open before we could even knock and the shortest guy I have ever seen in my life stumbled out in an apron. He had nerdy flat hair and a humongous head.

Zoe stifled a light ferret laugh. I snorted as the boy ran up to Yoh.

"HELP ME!!! Anna's gone ballistic!" Then he caught sight of me. "Oh, hello. I'm Manta" He looked at Yoh in question.

"This is Kigali. She'll be taking Anna's test to see if she can stay with us." Yoh explained. Manta smiled sadly.

"Good luck, Kigali. Let's hope you can cook." He said sympathetically as we walked in. At the door, Yoh took me aside.

"Hey, don't let Anna scare you. She can be nice... every once in a while."

"Don't worry Yoh. Anna won't scare me." I walked past him and into the living room, where a girl was ordering HoroHoro around. She was my age with shoulder length blondish hair and a black dress. She had a red bandana around her head and a bracelet identical to mine in her right hand. She wore electric blue Itako beads.

"Hey Anna! There's someone here that would like to stay with us." Yoh pushed me forwards. Anna whirled around with an angry sigh.

"Another one??? Yoh this is too..." she trailed off when she caught sight of me. Her angry pose fell to disbelief. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God! KIGALI???" I laughed.

"IT'S ME ANNA!" She ran to me and gave me a huge hug. I hugged her back. "Sorry I took so long!"

"I can't believe it's you! I thought I would never see you again." She pulled back and held me at arm's length. "It's really you!" I hugged her again. I felt her sob softly. I shot a look at the boys. They were staring at us with their mouths to the ground. Their eyes were popping out in disbelief. I pulled back from Anna.

"So, what's this about a test."

"Oh that, yeah, you passed. Let's go to your room." We ran upstairs like two little kids in Christmas and deposited my stuff in a room that was mostly empty except for a folded-up mat (you know, Japanese beds!) and closed the door.

"We've got TONS of catching up to do! Tell me EVERYTHING." She demanded, smiling widely. It was unusual to see Anna smile. I DID tell her everything. The dream, Zoe, the trip to the Kovu Village, the goddess tests, Blizzard, Asali and Ramissa, The Sisterhood, and the trip here. I kept my mouth shut about Hao, even though she probably knew. She listened with full attention.

"So you're here for the Tournament?" I nodded. "Where's your spirit? Zoe right?"

"Here." I held up Zoe's ferret form.

"A ferret?" Anna raised an eyebrow. I shook my head and put Zoe down. She immediately went into her regular shape.

"A shapeshifter! Like you! Is her regular shape a blue wolf with wings?" She asked, scratching Zoe behind the ears. I nodded "Fits you! But this isn't a normal spirit. I can sense a difference in her."

"Yeah, I'm not a regular spirit." Explained Zoe. As usual, Anna jerked her hand away at hearing her talk. "If I want to, I can be seen by regular humans, and I can't go through walls, or into a memorial tablet like a regular ghost."

"And she can eat. Too much if you ask me." I added.

"Her element is water and ice. Like you. Wow, Kigali, I never expected you to be the reincarnation of a goddess, and I've studied about that too. So, when should I be expecting the other two freeloaders?"

"Two days. Are you sure you don't mind them staying Anna?'

"I'm sure. Hey Kigali... you knew HoroHoro before now... am I right?"

"Yeah, he lived in a nearby village."

"He seems peculiarly fond of you. Anything special between you two?" I sighed. Anna always knows.

"No. Well... actually... yes. He's my fiancé." There was a bump outside the door, as if someone had tripped. Anna stood up and headed for the door.

"I'm sorry. He'll make a horrible husband, just like mine." She opened the door with a frown. Yoh, Manta, HoroHoro, and a tall guy with huge hair like Elvis poured into my room. They looked nervously up at Anna.

"Yoh, were you eavesdropping on our conversation? That's not very polite, but I guess it will save the hassle of telling you about it. But I will also add 500 pushups for this afternoon. Yoh, stop gawking at Kigali. If you want to say something just say it." Yoh apologized at Anna turned to me.

"Are you really a shaman?"

"Umm... yes?"

"And are you really HoroHoro's fiancé?"

"I'm not HIS ok? I don't belong to anyone. Yes, we're bound to marry, but that doesn't mean anything." HoroHoro fell to the ground and clutched his chest in an exaggerated fashion. Manta was asking Zoe all sorts of random questions and flipping through a humongous dictionary. Elvis guy stepped up to me, knelt and took my hand as if proposing to me.

"Excuse me fair lady, but allow me to present myself; I am Ryu the wooden sword, the leader of the Dead Enders, a local gang. We have heard a lot about your quest in music making and admire you profoundly." I took my hand away and wiped it in my skirt.

"Yes... that's very... nice... umm... Ryu..."

"Ok, that's enough everyone! You all have work to do so go at it! Kigali needs her rest." Everyone scrammed out of my room with one last curious look at me. Anna was the last to go.

"Kigali, you should rest, you look very tired."

"I'll be fine."

"Ok, I'll be downstairs if you need me. I'll wake you up tomorrow for school. You'll be going with Yoh, Manta, and I to Shinra Jr High, even though it's close to the end of the year. I suppose you wouldn't want to stay here with SOME people." She closed the door softly. I looked around the room for the second time. The first was just a gaze across it, but this one was more detailed. Zoe sighed.

"Well this is... quaint..." She said, looking around at the empty room.

"Zoe... Anna was nice enough to give us our own room, don't make us look bad." I took off my clothes and spread my bed.

"I'm gonna take a nap Zoe. Why don't you go check on Blizzard?" As soon as I entered the warm bed, I was asleep.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

So yeah, that's pretty much it for now, but Anna's back in the plot! Yay! And HoroHoro , and Yoh, Manta, Pilika... yeah...

Next Chapter- School Days


	24. School Days

**Disclaimer- I only own my laptop, not Shaman King**

** ZOE **

The next morning HoroHoro quietly slipped into Kigali's room. I flicked an ear.

"What are you doing here?"

"Anna told me to wake Kigali up." He neared her bed.

"Be careful how you do it. She's not in her best moods in the morning."

"I'll wake her up like a princess." He said. I sighed as he leant over her. "A kiss always works. And then they get all mushy and go 'my prince! You saved me!' It always works." I watched in horror as he bended over her and… SMACK!!!

"What are you doing here???" Kigali screamed. HoroHoro was in no condition to answer. She covered herself with the sheets. "Do I need to show you the way out or should I get Zoe to do it for me?" I turned into a menacing lioness. HoroHoro didn't need to be told twice. I went into my human form and locked the door. Kigali put on a robe and dragged her feet downstairs.

"Good morning Kigali!" Said Manta cheerfully while burning some pancakes. Kigali rubbed her eyes and muttered something about burnt breakfast. Yoh walked in all sweaty.

"Where have YOU been?" I asked him.

"Anna's training. I must run 10 kilometers before breakfast." Kigali went into the living room. Anna was sitting on a sofa watching TV.

"Yo."

"Mornin' Kigali. You'll need to borrow one of my school uniforms, they're in my room."

"K." Kigali grunted. We went into Anna's room and grabbed one of the uniforms in her closet.

"Hey Key, do you think Anna sleeps with Yoh?"

"Maybe she just likes queen sized beds." I followed Kigali to her room.

"Make sure HoroHoro doesn't come anywhere near my room." She said sleepily as she got changed. The uniform was a white shirt and a green schoolgirl skirt. Kigali brushed her hair and went downstairs again. Ryu greeted us.

"Why hello Kigali, would you like a ride to school in my motorcycle?"

"No, but I could take your motorcycle…"

"That's Ok."

"That's what I thought. Did Anna leave?"

"No, she's waiting for you outside." We walked with Anna to the school, when we got there, Kigali turned to me.

"You can come with me to school, but you've GOT to stay in a small shape and out of sight, got it?" I turned into a mouse and crawled into her pocket in response.

** NORMAL **

Anna walked into class alone, since the principal had taken Kigali to the office to sign in.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Kigali Belaqua."

"Birthday?"

"May 23."

"Age?"

"13."

"Where are you from again?"

"Alaska, US."

"And do you have any relatives or friends in this school?"

"Yes."

"Excellent, I understand you've been home schooled until now?"

"That's correct."

"Very well. I will take you to your class." The principal led Kigali down several halls and stopped in front of a door that had a sign that read 'BILLY BOY'.

"Mr. Boy will be your teacher for the remaining of the school year. I will go in and introduce you, wait here until called." He went inside the classroom. The students quieted down.

"Class, I have an announcement to make; we will have a new student." The class broke into exited whispers. "Please welcome Kigali Belaqua." Kigali walked in and smiled. Several wolf whistles were heard across the room. "Kigali is an exchange student from Alaska. I'm sure you'll make her feel at home." The principal walked out. Mr. Boy was a fat teacher with a bald spot on his head, red eyes, and bad breath. He basically looked like he was on a permanent hangover. He gave Kigali a seat next to Yoh, who gave her thumbs up. Several boys elbowed Yoh and winked suggestively. Anna glared fiercely at them.

"Now, we will start studying the Pythagorean theorem today and blah blah blah…" Kigali zoned out almost immediately. Mr. Boy had made the mistake of putting her next to a window. She sighed as she looked out to the fluffy white clouds. Zoe scampered to Yoh and crawled into his pocket, to his delight. When the bell rang, Kigali was one of the first ones out the door. School was too much for her, even though only half of a regular school day had gone by. It was only break time. She sat down on a bench next to Anna, who looked very bored. Kigali looked around and caught a small group of girls staring at Anna and pointing and giggling.

"Hey Anna, those girls are making fun of you!"

"No big. They always do that. Just ignore them, they're not worth my time."

"But they're worth mine!" Kigali stomped over to the gossipy girls. They stopped in mid-word to stare at her in astonishment as she got up in their faces.

"Hey! Listen if you have a problem with Anna, then you have a problem with yours truly. And you might not WANT to have a problem with me; it's usually not pretty. So next time you think of bothering Anna, think that you're going to be bothering me. Capisce?" They nodded rapidly and jogged away. When she got back to the bench, Yoh was sitting in her place. Anna gave her a tiny smile.

"Thanks Key."

"No prob!"

"Oh, sorry Kigali, I'm in your seat, here you can have it." Offered Yoh.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Keep Anna company, you look very sweet together. I'm just going to hang around." She waved and walked away. There were some boys playing softball in the square, so she decided to sit in the stands and chill. Zoe became a bluebird and chirped around her. One of the boys turned to look at her… then three… then six… after much ado, one of them was forced to go up to her.

"Hey…" He said shyly.

"Yo."

"Aren't you Kigali from The Angels?"

"Yup."

"Oh… where are Asali and Ramissa?"

"They'll be coming in two days."

"Will they be coming to this school?"

"'Till the end of the year."

"Oh. And... umm… just between us… I think you're the hottest of the group."

"Oh… ok… that's nice… thanks… I guess…"

"Hey! Will you sign my softball?"

"Ok." She was used to it by now. Soon, all the boys in the field were crowding around her, holding out random objects for her to sign. After the boys dispersed, she sighed.

"It's boring signing autographs without Asali and Missy. I miss them."

"Kigali. Three days, let's not make a big deal out of this."

"Whatever. I still miss them." She sighed and stretched. "Let's go for a walk around the field."

"That's pointless."

"Shut up." She laughed. Zoe nosed around leaves as a russet squirrel. The breeze blew softly across the field. A lot of people usually chilled around the field, but today, there was only one. A girl Kigali's age sat by herself in the grass. She had bright orange hair in two pigtails. She didn't wear a uniform like Kigali; instead she had a black suit on and a broom lay on the grass by her side. She wore finger-less gloves on her hands.

Kigali sat on the stand by her. She felt the odd need to talk with someone, even if it was a complete stranger.

"Hey. Are you from this school?" The girl looked up and smiled.

"No, I'm just chilling. I'm Matilda. Matilda Matisse, but my friends call me Matti. What's your name?"

"The name's Kigali."

"Kigali… Kigali… that name sounds really familiar!" She laughed at herself.

"Oh, it's nothing special. So do you live here?" Kigali changed the subject quickly. People tended to act different around her if they knew about The Angels.

"Nope, just traveling with a few friends. Were you born here?"

"Nope. I'm just here visiting too. Traveling with friends also."

"Ah. We have more in common than I first thought." She smiled good-naturedly. "Isn't it wonderful to travel? I've been stuck in an orphanage after my parents died, but then I met… someone and he, I-I mean _she_ took me in with my friends."

"Are you serious? I was in a sort of orphanage too. My mom died a long time ago, and my dad left us, so I was stuck in one of those too."

"Wow! Talk about coincidence."

DING! DING! DING!

"Oh man… that's the bell. I've gotta go. It was awesome talking to you, Matti. I hope we see each other again."

"Me too! See ya!" She waved as Kigali jogged off. The rest of the school day went by slowly for Kigali. She had slept through most of the class and was half asleep when the dismissing bell rang.

"Hey Kigali, are you walking with us?" called Yoh.

"Nah, I think I'll pass. Gotta take care of some junk. You go ahead without me." She watched as Yoh and Manta walked away. Anna soon followed with a small wave. She respected Kigali's privacy.

"Kigali? What stuff do we have to take care of?"

"I just want to check something out."

"Now where have I heard those words before?"

"No nightclubs this time, promise."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Yeah, sorry for the long period of non-responsiveness, lol, but I'll be updating more often now that I have internet in my room.

Next Chapter- Funbari Cemetery


	25. Funbari Cemetery

Ok, I updated like I promised! I think a lot of you will especially like this chapter!

Review if u can!

Disclaimer- Not Mine!

** KIGALI **

We wandered to the local cemetery, called Funbari Hill.

"Why here?" asked Zoe, puzzled.

"This is the highest point in this neighborhood. The sunset will be best here."

"And?" She asked as I sat on a gravestone in the highest point of the hill, right under a big elm.

"I guess I have a lot on my mind."

"For you to sit still for more than five minutes, your mind must be loaded."

"You're exaggerating." I sighed. Zoe whined in concern and climbed up above me in the elm as a cougar. "Don't worry Zoe. I just want to chill."

"If you chill any more you'll freeze." She sighed and found a comfortable branch. I frowned and looked at the scenery above me. The sun was setting slowly. The evening star appeared above me. Twilight was here. It was my time of day, when my connection to earth was at its peak. I closed my eyes as a flow of wind caressed my face. I heard its wordless tales. Talking to the wind was an art I had learned even before arriving at the Kovu Tribe. I whistled a soft tune, which the wind carried away.

_Where are my friends?_ The wind picked up. It made a quick and high-pitched whistle like laughter. It was Asali's song. She was near. _What about the Dark Rose?_ I asked again, this time in short staccato whistles, like a robin's. The wind also responded a different tune. It was a flowing rising breeze that tickled my ears. The sun's rise would bring her. She would arrive at dawn. I heard Zoe's tail swish in understanding.

"What is it saying?" asked a deep voice. Not Zoe's. I turned my head sideways to find Hao standing behind me.

"What?"

"The wind."

"You know what it's saying. You heard it yourself. There's no need to test me Hao. What are you doing here?"

"I'm checking on my brother." He moved next to me and sat down next to the gravestone I was leaning against. Zoe gave a quiet rumble of warning.

"Ok. What are you doing HERE?"

"I'm checking on you." He said evenly. I sighed and stared across the buildings, now tinted orange. "Why are you confused?"

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" He played with me.

"Don't read my mind. My thoughts are none of your concern."

"You know, you're one of the only people that can bewilder me."

"How's that?" I asked.

"You wouldn't happen to remember your past life?"

"I was reincarnated, not resurrected."

"I know, but what confuses me about you is the way you act."

"Hmm?"

"In your past life, you were very different than you are now."

"I wouldn't know." I said bitterly. He ignored my remark.

"In your past life you were an excellent fighter, but a pushover. You were too tame, and when you saw me for the first time, you were all over me. You are different now. I have to admit you caught me off guard. You're much more rebellious than your past self, and wild."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I disappoint you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not at all. You've grown, if possible, even more beautiful than your past self."

"And don't expect me to be 'all over you'."

"Admit it. You loved that kiss." That went a little bit over the line. I turned around and flashed my hand to slap him. He caught my hand in mid-air. Zoe growled threateningly.

"I already have a fiancé, Hao. I won't be unfaithful to him."

"I asked you for your hand in marriage in your past life. You were split in two. One half of your loyalties were with me, and the other with those you call friends, so when time came to finish me off, you hesitated. That's what caused your friend's deaths."

"NO! Don't you get it? I'm not just 'The Goddess'. I'm not the Kigali from 500 years ago! That's only half of whom I am!"

"What's the other half then?"

"The other half is I! Key! Not a goddess! Not a past reincarnation! Just a girl! A normal girl that just happens to be a shaman. A girl that likes to sing and dance. A girl who likes to play guitar and joke around with her friends. Hao, I'm not the Kigali you remember, I'm someone new. I am my own person, even if I have a goddess's soul running through my veins. So please, leave my friends and me alone. I won't be making the same mistakes I made before. Please." I could tell he was surprised, but being Hao, he just smiled good-naturedly as I wiped my eyes and stood up to walk away.

"I understand."

"No you don't" I walked down the hill, Zoe whimpering in concern at my heels as a faithful Labrador.

"Kigali?" I looked at the gate. It was already nighttime and the shadows covered the empty sidewalks, but I knew that voice.

"HoroHoro?" I sniffed. He walked from behind the gate, a worried look on his face.

"Where were you? We were all so worried." He wiped a tear away from my cheek. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." I looked away from him as he led me back to the Asakura household, holding my hand tightly. I looked sideways at Funbari Hill. A shape was barely seen at the top, but just so. I looked away. Hao wasn't my problem. I had HoroHoro. He was my fiancé.

When we reached the house, Anna greeted me with a concerned frown. I had a feeling she knew what had happened, one way or another. We ate dinner and then went to bed.

"Hey Zoe?" I asked as I got into my bed.

"Hmm?"

"You don't think I'd ever betray HoroHoro… Do you?"

"You stood up for him today. Besides, your animal is the wolf; the most loyal of all. Especially if you love him." Especially if I love him. Did I love HoroHoro? He had been there for me. He worried about me. He had 'missed' me during the time we were away. What did THAT mean. Had my heart softened THAT much? I crawled out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Zoe, shapeshift into me and sleep in my bed Ok?"

"Key…"

"Just do it ok?"

"I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Zoe…"

"Fine… it's not like it didn't work out LAST time you didn't listen to me…" She turned into me and frowned disapprovingly.

"Aww Zoe. You're a sweet heart." I tiptoed out of the room. I had to be quiet. Anna was a light sleeper, and her room was right next to mine. I treaded softly across the hall and into the room in the left side of the house. I snuck in carefully. Night vision was one of my specialties. I neared a 'bed' in the center of the room. My fiancé lay sprawled everywhere.

"Hey… psst… HoroHoro!" I whispered and shook his shoulder. He woke up slowly.

"What is it? Huh? Key?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah uh… listen, can I stay here for tonight?" I asked.

"Be my guest." He replied, not believing his ears.

"But no funny stuff." I compromised as I slipped in next to him.

"Ok, no funny stuff." He agreed and hugged my waist. He was very warm considering he was an Ice shaman. I scooted closer to his chest and put my head under his chin. Sleep fell over me like a blanket.

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Awww wasn't that cute? Lol, let's se how Kigali will deal with both Hao and Horo Horo!

Keep reading!

Next Chapter- Asali and Ramissa's Arrival


	26. Asali and Ramissa's Arrival

Hey, peeps,what's going on? Thanx so much to everyone that reviewed my story! I luv u guys! Well, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer- Shaman King is NOT in my possession

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It was the sounds of voices downstairs that first made me stir. It sounded like some commotion was going on downstairs. I moved a bit to get out of bed, but HoroHoro hugged my waist tight.

"It doesn't matter, it's probably Anna torturing Yoh. Stay here a bit longer." I slipped into bed again. He hugged me into his warm chest and—

"MEGA PUNCH!" **WHAM**! Suddenly I was alone in bed. HoroHoro had flown across the room and made a hole in the opposite wall from the impact. I looked behind me. A fiery Asali was dusting her hands. Ramissa looked shyly into the room.

"Asali! OMG! You're here!" I hugged her, then Ramissa.

"Yeah! Too bad we're not on time! This guy here was molesting you!" She ranted. I looked at HoroHoro. He was trying to get his head out of the hole.

"Asali… that's my fiancé." It took them a while to digest this.

"WHAT? THAT is your fiancé?" They screamed, pointing at the blue haired Ainu.

"You guys are so mean."

"NO! We're just the right amount of mean! I mean, this thing will make a horrible husband!" She ranted some more, nudging HoroHoro with her foot.

"Hey! C'mon you guys! You don't even know him! How would you know that?" I defended, pulling the Ainu out of the wall.

"I can just tell." She huffed.

"So, how did you find me?"

"Zoe found US." There was a pause at this as Zoe guiltily peeked into the room. I cracked my knuckles.

"What did ZOE say to you, Asali?"

"That you were being raped." She replied simply. There now was a crowd at the door in HoroHoro's room.

"Did it LOOK like I was being raped?"

"Yes." She concluded.

"Ok, well, I wasn't." I crossed my arms and glared at her.

"Key! C'mon! Don't be mad!"

"I'm not." I lied as I stomped out of HoroHoro's room and into mine. Anna was giving out chores so Yoh, Manta, and Ryu would leave me alone. Ramissa sat quietly besides me. Asali was still dissing HoroHoro. Anna and Asali were attacking him at the same time.

"Poor guy." Ramissa said. I nodded in agreement. "You know, he looks like he's awfully fond of you. I would approve of him if he really likes you, and not just follows his superior's orders when it comes to marriage. You know?"

"Not really. I have no idea… and Asali's not making things better." This time SHE nodded in agreement. Zoe crawled in my lap apologetically as a puppy, her ears against her neck and tail between her legs. I frowned and picked her up by the scruff of the neck.

"This is all your fault Zoe."

"Sorry!"

"A spirit is supposed to keep her shaman's secrets."

"I know… I'm sorry."

"That won't help you now. You know Asali. Once she gets off the wrong side of someone, it takes a massive amount of good to reverse that. Now she hates my fiancé."

"All he has to do is a massive amount of good…"

"Zoe. This is HoroHoro we're talking about."

"Oh yeah…"

"If I may be so bold to ask Zoe," Started Riomi as a black kitten on Ramissa's lap, "Why did you tell Missy and Asali in the first place?"

"I thought Kigali was going to err… DO something with HoroHoro, not just… you know… cuddle?" I dropped her in the ground and ruffled her fluffy fur.

"Zoe! I'm not THAT stupid!"

"YES YOU ARE!" Asali joined the scene.

"What?" I sighed.

"Not only you slept with a guy, but went to a nightclub ALONE! Have you ever heard of such a thing? A thirteen-year-old in a nightclub ALONE! I mean, it was ok with us there, but see what happened when you went alone? You got drugged! DRUGGED! Lord! You are too reckless, Kigali. We're not there for three freaking days and you already get into two major problems!"

"Asali! They weren't even major and—"

"Shut up and listen! We don't do anything stupid without our friends near. They're our second opinion. We depend on one another in this Sisterhood. We can't have one of our sisters loose and high on freedom. We need each other… ok?" She lowered her voice. I sighed. Asali always had a way of making you see reality the hard way. I nodded miserably.

"Good. I've already talked to Anna; she said we could room with you. Which is perfect, because we wouldn't want you to go on another little escapade now would we?"

"You're acting like Tabitha." I answered.

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Ok, hope you liked this chappie! A bit short, but more excitingnow that the sisterhood's back in the scene!

Next Chapter- Nightmares


	27. Nightmares

Hey you guys! Sorry for the looooooooooooooooooong wait, but I think it was worth it! We're nearing the tournament!

Disclaimer- I disclaim Shaman King and F.R.I.E.N.D.S! (LoL even the reruns!)

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 Nightmares 0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The following weeks passed as slowly as school weeks usually do. Asali had been positioned on my other side and we had made a career out of making fun of Mr. Billy Boy with his permanent hangover and elbowing Yoh in the ribs when he fell asleep. Ramissa was placed by Manta, who lectured her to death. Poor Missy. She usually fell asleep through the middle of his long speeches. Yeah, the only thing we probably learned in that school was that cafeteria food is a bioterrorist hazard, but the real fun came when the last few weeks of school approached.

We had become quite popular, but not in the usual preppy kind of way. We had our own little group: Ramissa, Asali, Anna, and me. We got into trouble quite a few times… but how serious is it to hold a concert in the school roof? (Courtesy of Ramissa and I). The school started to grow on you. Besides, there was starting to be talk about the end of the year dance. In fact, that's pretty much all we talked about, except Anna, who sat there, frowned and nodded when we asked her something. She wasn't looking forwards to the dance. I still had to decide if I was looking forwards to it or dreading its arrival.

The principal himself had requested us to play at the dance, and we had agreed, since we had no dates. Even though Asali had been literally asked by 90 of the boys in the class. When she cursed them off, they tended to turn to the more gentle but equally rejecting me. Ramissa and Anna kept everyone at bay with fierce glares, but I do have to say that Anna takes the trophy for that one. We would play for half the dance and have the other half free, so we would just hang out with one another. Asali told me that HoroHoro would periodically mob her, asking her if I had been invited to the dance in school. She would say yes, and he would have a fit, crying all over her feet in an exaggerated manner. She also told me he needed a leash and a collar with tags. I halfway agreed.

We also joined Yoh in Anna's backbreaking training (which rivaled Tabitha's) and it really paid off. We learned a lot about Yoh's spirit, Amidamaru, a samurai spirit from 600 years ago and his possession, a cool samurai sword.

Yoh and Amidamaru alike were glad to have us (and our distractions) with them while training.

Anyways, everything was cool. I was happy. Yoh became a really close friend, and Manta became a… friend, but we all basically got along perfectly. No bad news was heard those weeks, so I guess it took me by surprise when I started having the dreams.

The dreams were more like nightmares, actually. And they starred someone whom I didn't want to think of. I know tons about dreams, so I knew that these dreams were not normal. They were recurrent, they talked about things I didn't know but later turned out to be true, they talked about my past, but mostly, they talked to me. I woke up every night at the early hours of morning; sweat covering me like a light film of mist. I woke up scared to death. Hao Asakura was playing games with my head. He was sending me visions and making me see a reality I didn't want to see. And at the end of each dream, he laughed. He laughed that maniac laugh of his, and I would yell at him, scream for him to stop, but he would never listen. He would just laugh.

ANNA 

In the dead of the night, I heard a light scream as Kigali woke up. Then I heard the soft footsteps and the bathroom door open. I would hear her murmuring as she whispered to Zoe her troubles. It worried me. It worried me a lot. It's not like I would show it, but it wasn't natural for Kigali to be acting this way. I might have been the first one who noticed her distress. Lack of sleep, a slight lack of appetite. But it was enough to know something serious was going on.

Some say Kigali and I are opposites, some say we aren't all that different, but all I know is that she's my best friend. Kigali had always been extremely open. She told you how she felt when she felt it, happy, excited, mad, annoyed… all emotions but one. She's somehow not able to express suffering. She hides it in the deepest corners of her heart because she's scared she will worry someone with her own troubles. 'It is my problem' she would say and smile cheerfully, even though she may be miserable inside.

I am the opposite in that way. I'm not really open to good emotions. I had been taught long ago that they made one weak. I was hesitating on that subject now. Yoh and Kigali could see right through me, and with their ever-cheery attitudes, well, let's just say you catch it when you're near. Soon, you'd find yourself laying in the grass and staring at the clouds when you have a heap of laundry to do.

After Kigali left, I had always been sort of a loner. At school, at home… I was used to being alone, so it was an obvious change when Kigali and her battalion of friends came to live at my house. Now it wasn't 'just Anna'. Now it was four of us. We did everything together. I have to admit, I had missed having friends like them. They made me a member of the Sisterhood, under the name of 'Anna Fire Fly', and even invited me to join the band, but I declined that offer. So then we were four. Ramissa the athlete, Asali the beauty, Kigali the rebel, and me, Anna, the… what? The one with the bad temper. But the one who cares the most. The one with the most authority. The one with the most insight.

Maybe that's why I was the first one to find out. Maybe that's why Kigali didn't tell me. But most important of all, I knew what was wrong with Kigali. It was in my knowledge that Kigali was the water goddess. I knew that Hao Asakura has the elemental powers and spirit of fire. I also knew that she knew him too closely for comfort. The other two had never even seen him, but Kigali had seen him more than once, I was sure of that. Hao was trying to confuse Kigali with dreams and visions.

Later, I found out another interesting fact. Kigali was trying to keep Hao at bay, but failing miserably. He just thought of it as a game, but I DID notice Kigali getting skinnier and weaker. She was as cheerful as ever, but you could tell she was tired. I asked Yoh if he had noticed any changes in Kigali, and he answered negatively, so I started to doubt my first suspicions when I noticed Zoe.

Zoe; Kigali's spirit. Of course. She would get a full blow of Kigali's emotions because of her spirit bond with her shaman. I started watching Zoe after that, and noticed that sometimes Zoe was lying on the ground, her tail between her legs and her ears flattened up to her neck, when Kigali was laughing and talking to us. More than once I've seen Kigali give a warning look to Zoe when she fluttered around nervously. That's how I figured out what she was feeling. That morning Kigali came down for breakfast an hour earlier than usual.

"Hi." She greeted, rubbing her eyes and sinking in the living room couch. She put on some 'Friends' reruns.

"No breakfast?" She shook her head silently. "What's up, Kigali? You know that I'm here if you need someone to talk to." I offered. Zoe looked up hopefully.

"Nothing's wrong, Anna. I'm just nervous about the coming tournament, but who isn't?"

"Not me!" Called Yoh from the kitchen. Ryu's voice followed his, offering different types of breakfasts. I went to the kitchen, ready to order my menu when HoroHoro came down the stairs, yawning.

"Hey Horo!"

"Yo."

"Breakfast?"

"Where's my beautiful fiancé, I think she'll be a balanced breakfast for me." A pillow came flying from the living room and hit HoroHoro square in the face. He fell back in surprise. Kigali stomped in from the living room and stepped on the pillow covering HoroHoro's face.

"I already told you! I'm NOT yours!" She stepped on the pillow with every syllable. HoroHoro gave muffled cries of pain as she kicked him lightly. He was exaggerating. Again. He always exaggerated when Kigali was mad at him, and then sulked around until I gave him more chores. He wouldn't have to wait long for that.

"HoroHoro, you've got to clean the spring."

"But Manta did it yesterday!"

"Do it. Now." I glared at him.

"Yes ma'am." He trudged off with one last pitiful look toward Kigali. She turned her head away and scoffed at his pathetic plea for help.

"Where are Ramissa and Asali?"

"I think they said something about a bath…"

"A bath?"

"Wait. That means…"

"Uh-Oh."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YOU LITTLE PERVERT! GET HIM MISSY!" Everyone rolled their eyes as a soaked HoroHoro ran into the kitchen and hid behind Kigali. Asali and Ramissa followed, wrapped in bath towels.

"YOU!" Asali raged at HoroHoro.

"Sorry! I didn't know! They were Anna's orders!" He pointed at me.

"No they weren't." I lied.

"You pervert! If I EVER catch you doing something funny, I'll personally take you to the vet. Maybe HE'LL be able to 'FIX' your little problem, buddy." Ouch. She stomped away. Kigali turned to HoroHoro.

"At least she didn't hit you like last time."

"Only because you were in front of me."

"Hey, you guys, what's all the commotion? I think I missed it." Yoh spoke up from the kitchen table.

"But you were here all along…"

"Oh… yeah… I sort of fell asleep… he he he." That's Yoh for ya.

"It was no big. We've got to go to school, so hurry up and finish your breakfast we don't want to be late."

"We don't?"

"No."

"Hey Anna, can I have a word with you?" Kigali said. She was smiling THAT smile. I followed her upstairs and to her room, where Asali and Ramissa were waiting. "We're not going to school today."

"Why?"

"Because tonight is the end of the year dance, and tomorrow's the last day of school. We need to get our dresses, and you are coming with us."

"I'm not going to the dance."

"Yes you are. I made Yoh spend 200 dollars on a tux, so unless you want that money to go to waste, you are going." She had hit a low spot.

"Fine. When are we leaving?"

"When the guys set off." We waited until Manta, Yoh, and Ryu left to go downstairs. HoroHoro was cleaning the dishes.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"None of your business PERVERT." Snapped Asali. HoroHoro shot a look at Kigali. She just shrugged her shoulders.

We walked downtown, which was fairly close and started looking around the stores. We ended up buying our dresses in a fancy boutique (which gave us a discount because of Kigali). I have to say that my dress was beautiful. It was a thin spaghetti-strap black dress that went to my shins and had a slit up to my hip.

"Very sexy."

"Yoh will die." I laughed. The dance might not be so bad after all. We arrived home in the afternoon, loaded with bags of random shopping. Yoh and Manta crowded us as soon as we entered the house.

"Where were you?"

"Didn't you go to school?"

"What are those bags?"

"Aren't you going to the dance tonight?" I sighed.

"None of your biz." Kigali shooed them off and then turned to us. "The dance is in three hours. First we do our nails, then our hair, then we change, and finally we do the makeup. Ok?" We nodded and headed upstairs, but HoroHoro stopped Kigali. He looked nervous.

"Hey Key, can I have a word with you?" She looked at us and motioned us to go on. We all glared at HoroHoro as we climbed the stairs.

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Oh no! A cliffy! Sorry ppl! I promise to update this week, so hang with me!

Next Chapter- The School Dance


	28. The School Dance

Ok here's the latest update!

Disclaimer- Not mine, not yet

Last Chapter… We headed upstairs, but HoroHoro stopped Kigali. He looked nervous.

"Hey Key, can I have a word with you?" She looked at us and motioned us to go on. We all glared at HoroHoro as we climbed the stairs.

KIGALI 

"What is it?" I asked reluctantly.

"I… I just wanted to know if you accepted anyone's invitations to the dance…" He looked away.

"Me? No, I haven't. You're my 'boyfriend'. It's my obligation to decline anyone else's invitation."

"Obligation?"

"That's right."

"So does that mean I'm weighing you down? You don't really want to be with me, do you? You're just doing it because Tabitha ordered you to, aren't you?" His shoulders sagged. I felt horrible.

"No… that's not true…" I didn't really know how to handle the problem without hurting his feelings. I have a weakness for hurting people's feelings.

"It's ok if you want to go with someone else. I mean, I don't own you or anything. You don't even have to marry me if you don't want to. I understand." He sighed. Now I felt even worse. He was giving me my freedom in a silver platter. But I couldn't accept that, I don't know why, but I just couldn't.

"Hey, listen up, why don't you come to the dance with me? Just borrow a tux from someone, you still have time."

"For real?"

"Yes. I'll be playing for half the time, but I'll still have free time. I'll see you in three hours ok?" he smiled happily.

"Right." I climbed the stairs slowly. What had I gotten myself into? I had promised the girls that I'd hang with them. I walked hesitantly into my room. Anna was sitting in my bed while Asali painted her nails a sparkly pink. I leaned by the door as Ramissa caught sight of me.

"Girl! What's up? What did HE want?"

"Oh… um… nothing."

"Right. You didn't agree to go to the dance with him… did you?" she asked at the sight of my face. I sighed and slid down to the floor.

"Sorry!"

"KEY!" All three of them said at the same time.

"I'm so sorry! But he was all sad and depressed. He was like, about to cry or something. Don't worry, I'll still be with you when we play… and maybe I can ditch HoroHoro for a while to be with you guys…" Asali twitched an eyebrow and got back to painting Anna's nails while muttering something about a rapist. Ramissa shrugged good-naturedly and painted mine a pearly night-blue.

"As long as he loves you…"

"He doesn't love me. And I don't love him." I ranted. "It's an ARRANGED marriage. I had no choice in the subject."

"Quit moving and STAY STILL. Look, Just be careful."

"Of what, HoroHoro?"

"Not him. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, sure." I rolled my eyes. Maybe Asali's paranoia was rubbing in on Ramissa. We did our hair, changed, and finished putting on our makeup right on time for the dance. We stood around the room and admired each other.

Ramissa's was a flowy long-sleeve dress that went down to her ankles. It was a silvery green and had a hole in the shape of a star where her belly button was. Her hair was braided (by Denali's endless patience) and up in a ponytail with green highlights and sparkles.

Asali's was a pink prom dress with a flared bottom and short sleeves made from sparkly see-through veil-type material. She was swarmed in glitter and had her hair in thousands of perfect curls (the type that go 'boing!' when you pull on them).

Anna was wearing a black dress that went down to her mid-leg and had a slip up to her hip and had her hair in a black tiara. She didn't put on any glitter, but she did have a bit of silver shine above each eye.

But of all the dresses, I think mine was the best ("Duh! It's YOURS!"—Zoe) it was, like Asali's, a prom dress, but it was a deep ocean-blue with a silver hem that seemed to dissolve as it moved up the skirt of the dress. It was a halter top (no sleeves) so I put a silver armlet in each of my upper arms. My coppery hair was up in a bun with my white side-bangs let out loose and a bit of silver glitter around it ("For effect"—Ramissa). I wore the sapphire necklace Tabitha had given me and two silver loops Asali had let me borrow. Anna had put silver-blue eye shadow above each of my eyes and silver lipstick (VANILLA COCONUT!). I had on silver high-heeled sandals (which wobbled like crazy, so I ended up mostly barefooted at the dance, but one couldn't notice because my dress mostly covered my feet).

We were ready. Anna led us down stairs as Zoe rubbed against my feet as a cat.

'Zoe! You'll make me trip! It's hard enough to walk in these heels." I trembled down the stairs last due to Zoe. Asali, Ramissa, and Anna had already gone into the living room to meet the guys. I peeked inside so I wouldn't be seen. Anna was frowning at Yoh, who was drooling all over the floor, Asali was yelling at Ryu, who had apparently tried to hook up with her, and Ramissa was discussing something with Manta and sneaking a look at Yoh and Amidamaru every now and then. I stepped quietly into the room, hoping not to attract too much attention.

"HEY! There's Kigali!" Yelled out Ryu, escaping from Asali. So much for subtlety. I sighed and fully entered the room. I looked around the room and my eyes fell on HoroHoro. He was staring at me in open-mouthed awe. Asali slapped the back of his head.

"Stop staring at her, stupid. She's your date, and I BETTER not receive ANY complaints." He stood up and took my arm gently as we headed out the door.

"How are we getting to the school?" I called to Ramissa.

"I got us limousine. It should be waiting for us around the corner." It was. A white limo with a fat driver was parked just around the bend. He opened the doors courteously and let us in.

"Talk about fancy!" I exclaimed.

"Hmm… I could get used to this." Anna sighed. Ryu stayed at home and waved at us with a handkerchief. I shook my head. Sometimes I wondered about that guy…

"You know what they say; No date, no gain" sighed Missy.

"Ramissa, It's NO PAIN, no gain. And you don't have a date either so…" Asali countered. This went on for a while. At least until we reached the school. Which was about ten minutes away. We climbed off the limo in a flurry of excitement. Apparently, we were the only ones who had rented a limo.

"Hey Angels!"

"Are you going to play tonight?"

"Whom are you going with?" We just smiled and entered the school, where Ramissa, Asali, and I were swept off by the principal to the stage.

"Bye you guys!" I called back at Anna and Yoh, who waved back.

"You're late! The dance has already begun!" patronized the principal.

"Hey! Look, dude, we're doing this for free, so if you have a problem, we would be more than glad to serve a nice bill to your school." Shot back Asali. We were pushed out through the theater curtains and received with a gym-full of students, who cheered and whistled when they saw us. I turned to Asali and Ramissa.

"Five fast ones and two slow ones to end. K?"

"You got it." Asali said as she walked to the DJ table. Ramissa sat at the drums and winked at a hollering boy. I rolled my eyes and picked up my guitar. It didn't take long to impress the school. We had seen tougher audiences before, but it was still a bit sad. From my spot in the spotlight, I could see everything and everyone. Couples kissing, couples dancing, Anna yelling at Yoh… HoroHoro leaning against the wall all y himself. Several girls asked him to dance, but he declined every one of their offers. He just stayed there and bobbed his head in tempo with my singing. After the last slow song, we climbed off the stage in an outbreak of paper and pens. We must have signed about a hundred autographs before the principal came and told them off with a single glare at Asali. She and Ramissa immediately headed to the food table, but I excused myself and set out towards where HoroHoro was sitting. Zoe wrapped herself around my neck as a blue snake like an extravagant necklace. HoroHoro smiled when he saw me approach.

"You rocked the place."

"Nothing new." I joked. He took my hand and swept me towards the dance floor. The DJ they had hired for the other half of the dance put on a slow song. I put my head on HoroHoro's shoulder and he put his hands around my waist as we swayed to the music. Did I love HoroHoro? I remembered what Tabitha said; "You are extremely adaptive by nature, but you don't accept most change without a fight, and a good one at that. Sometimes you can be very stubborn, Kigali." Was I being stubborn about HoroHoro? Did I really want my freedom that bad? Did I—

"Key. Want to go outside for as bit?" I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled shyly. The song was over.

"Err… sure, why not." He led me by the hand to the schoolyard outside. We sat on a hidden bench behind a big willow tree; the perfect romantic setting. HoroHoro sat across from me. The only light remaining was that of the full moon. He gently ran his hand through my hair. I blushed and looked down at my lap.

"Key, I… um… have something I want to talk to you about…" He started. I looked up and caught his eyes. His eyes… what? They weren't the warm, bluish-black eyes I knew. They were cold and calculating. They were black. He wasn't HoroHoro. An inferno blazed behind me. His long brown hair faltered in the heat as he laughed his fanatic laugh. The fire burned my skin it was too real. I gasped and closed my eyes.

"STOP IT!" It was one of those visions. Just a dream. He was tricking me. I felt a sharp bite on my shoulder. Hao's image dissolved into darkness.

"Kigali! Kigali! Are you ok? What happened?" I opened my eyes to find HoroHoro above me. I was on the ground.

"What happened?" I asked as I tried to stand up. He picked me up and put me in the bench.

"You sort of blacked out. Zoe bit you and then you woke up." He said concernedly. I looked away. This hadn't been the first time this had happened. Sometimes when HoroHoro neared me, the visions came back just like this one. I sighed and stood up.

"Look, I can't—" I started, but was interrupted by Asali, who barged into the secluded spot with a worried expression.

"Kigali! C'mon, we've got to go. Now!" Asali took my arm and pulled me away from HoroHoro.

"Sorry, Horo, but this date's over. Kigali! C'mon! This is important. We've got to leave immediately!" I looked back at a confused HoroHoro as I jogged away. He was soon out of sight.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at her. She screeched to a stop.

"Kigali. You have to call Blizzard! NOW! If you don't there'll be a horrible massacre here, in school." She told me quickly. It took a while to digest.

"What? Why?"

"Kigali. HE'S coming. Now! He's coming HERE." I knew who HE was.

"Why?' I repeated.

"I don't know and I'm not sticking around to find out, but I have a feeling it's not to dance. Call Blizzard!" I whistled loudly and Blizzard came flapping down with a distressed chirp. Asali pushed me onto the bird's back and then jumped on after me.

"Blizzard, go above the clouds." I ordered. She obeyed with a caw.

"Asali, where's Ramissa?" I asked her.

"She's gone to get our stuff at Anna's."

"What? We're leaving?"

"Yes. We're going to have to find shelter in another place."

"Does Anna know?"

"I told her before we left."

"Crap."

"Sorry I spoiled your little moment with your boyfriend."

"S'all right. Blizzard, land at Anna's." We jumped off the Anka and ran inside. Ramissa was running down the hall, loaded with our three backpacks plus my hoverboard. She shoved our things in our hands.

"Hurry up. Run for it!" I jumped back on Blizzard. She flared up into the air before Asali and Ramissa were fully aboard. It seems that she sensed something too.

"Where are we going?" I asked Asali. She looked very shaken, so I turned to Ramissa.

"Missy?"

"We can't afford to fight Hao in Tokyo; too crowded. But we can't leave the city because of the tournament. We'll just have to keep moving from place to place." I nodded. Ramissa was right.

"Blizzard, take us down in the next block." We climbed off in front of a shabby little inn.

"Last stop, everybody off!" I joked optimistically as we entered the room. But it wouldn't do. We changed and agreed to switch night shifts. It was one depressing night. I spent most of my shift watching cable-less TV. At least it had news.

"_And we have just received information of a mysterious fire in Shinra Jr High, a school in a neighborhood called Funbari_…"

"Oh my God! You guys wake up! Look!" I shook Ramissa and Asali awake. We stared at the TV in horror as they played shots of the fire. The school we had been at just a few hours ago was a blazing inferno.

"Oh no!"

"_There were ten casualties and twenty three injured. The majority of the students in the school made it out alive, but there are still a large number of missing cases. A source tells us that the fire blazed up for no apparent reason in the middle of the gymnasium of the school, during the school's end of the year dance. The police are currently investigating…_"

"Asali! We have to check on Anna and Yoh! What if they've—" my voice cracked.

"No! You saw what he did. That was Hao Asakura. He was looking for us, and he still is. We have to stay hidden."

"Asali! Don't you get it? This was our entire fault! All those people died because of us!" I cried. Ramissa hugged me.

"Don't worry, Key, we'll get him. No matter what." I cried on her shoulder. "Riomi." She called on her spirit, who slunk onto the bed in her black jaguar form. "Go to Anna's house and check on them. Come back immediately after."

"Understood. Don't worry Lady Kigali, I am sure they have all made it out safely." She turned into a crow and swooped out the window Asali opened. Ramissa turned to me.

"Kigali, get some rest. Your shift is over." I fell asleep on her lap. Only one question flashed in my mind as it creeped to an unconscious state. Why?

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Wow, hope you enjoyed this chappie! I can assure you this: More Hao… very soon!

Next Chapter- Escape into the Forest


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